REAL HARM TO REAL PEOPLE

We need more recovering addicts like Kelly Merriman to tell their
stories (Heal the family first, father says, Winnipeg Free Press, Dec. 10).

When I read the Merriman family story and others similar in the
Mainline to Meth series, I wondered if my 13-year-old brother knows
anything about crystal meth.

Surprisingly, at his age it seems that he is not too young to have
come across drugs. In fact, at his school, there was a letter sent
home to all guardians informing them that some students had been
caught dealing drugs. How did these junior high students get their
hands on drugs in the first place? Do children not know the
consequences of being involved with drugs?

This is where I believe the education system needs to step in: It
needs to create real drug awareness.

Victims of drugs should come in and not only tell their real-life
stories to children, but to the children's guardians as well. They
should inform everyone how the problem begins, what symptoms to look
for and how drugs destroy families and lives. The education system
should provide these real-life drug stories on a regular basis, maybe
in co-ordination with the rehabilitation process of drug victims.

The use of discussion, fictional literature and pictures are not as
effective as real-life scenarios. Kids need to see and truly
understand that drugs do real harm to real people.

We need to make children -- like my brother -- and their guardians
more aware that there is no place for drugs in our lives. When was
the last time any of us have had a real family discussion on drugs?

Andrew Zielinski

Winnipeg