'METH KICKERS SAVED MY LIFE': EX-ADDICT

Program Pays Off, but Deadly Drug's Hard to Escape

HAUNTED by the death of his brother and unable to escape the grip of
crystal meth, Dallas Coates thought he was a goner at the age of 18.

There was no hope, only endless days and nights spent in a
crystal-meth fuelled haze.

The Kamloops, B.C., resident knew what kind of toxins he was putting
into his body -- but the seemingly endless emotional surge seemed like
a rich reward for his risks.

He had to change his life, and last summer he found a way -- Meth
Kickers, the most innovative treatment centre of its kind in Canada.

Aimed at helping teens and young adults addicted to crystal meth, the
Kamloops-based facility welcomed Coates at the beginning of September.
By late October, he was the centre's latest poster-child for success.

"I'm done man, I beat it," Coates told the Free Press in a recent
telephone interview.

It wasn't as easy as Coates makes it sound. And time will tell if
he'll stay meth-free.

But this much is clear -- Coates is adamant he would be near death, if
not in the grave already, were it not for taking a chance on a program
that may be coming soon to a neighbourhood near you.

"Meth Kickers saved my life, and changed my whole perspective on
life," said Coates, who is now going on his third month without
touching a drug he says he began smoking at the age of 14.

The same can't be said for several drug-addicted friends Coates
convinced to enter the program with him.

Like a real-life version of "Survivor," Coates was the only one
standing at the end of the intensive -- and innovative -- six-week
program geared for addicts between the ages of 13 and 24.

Bob Hughes, director of Meth Kickers, said those types of results are
typical.

"Meth is unlike any other drug out there. The relapse rates are
unbelievably high. A person can be so determined to stay away, but the
pull-back rate is enormous," Hughes told the Free Press. "This is a
very serious issue, and there are devastated people in its wake." A
recent Meth Kickers study shows just how difficult it is to break the
habit.

Fourteen people between the ages of 14 and 20 entered the program in a
four-month period beginning in February 2005.

Of those, nine successfully completed it while the other five
failed.

Meth Kickers re-visited those nine graduates in August 2005, and only
four of them claimed they had stayed clean. Three reported they'd had
three or fewer "slips" with meth, while two had gone into "full
relapse" mode.

Similar success and failure rates have been seen in a handful of
previous sessions since the program began in November 2004.

Hughes said Meth Kickers tries to make it easier for new participants
by allowing them to continue using meth for the first two weeks of
their enrollment. Marijuana use is also allowed throughout the entire
duration.

Hughes said the theory is that asking people to quit meth "cold
turkey" never really works, so it's better to try to slowly wean
people off the drugs.

Once the phase-out period is over, successful applicants are entered
into five days of detox, where they have no choice but to abstain.

In Coates' case, he says he continued to use heavy amounts of meth
right up until his final day of phasing out -- and essentially did
drop it on the spot when he saw several other participants around him
who appeared to have made a clean break. Just like the peer pressure
that got him to try meth for the first time, Coates says he followed
the lead of others and was accepted into the intensive part of the
program that includes one-on-one clinical work, group therapy and
weekly urinalysis to ensure compliance after getting out of detox.

Meth Kickers uses a reward system to encourage clients to stick with
the program, and Coates says he always looked forward to cashing in
his Starbucks gift certificates every time his pee was clean.

The program also uses the unproven nutritional supplement 5-HTP
(5-hydroxytryptophan), to help addicts in their recovery.

Hughes said heavy meth use depletes serotonin and dopamine levels in
user's brains -- which are essential elements to feelings of
well-being -- and 5-HTP can help replenish them quickly.

Although Coates is confident he's kicked his habit for good, he knows
a difficult road lies ahead.

He's trying to get away from his old peer group, but admits he's
already been offered meth several times since completing Meth Kickers
at the end of October.

Both Coates and Hughes believe other Canadian centres should follow
Meth Kickers lead and look at starting up intensive meth treatment
facilities to ensure addicts are getting the kind of specialized help
they need.