PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY METH A SYMPTOM

When you mention crystal meth to psychologists Jon Friel and Oliver
Kwan, don't use words like "plague" or "epidemic."

Such terms imply that meth is some kind of apocalyptic virus,
relentlessly spreading across the nation and consuming all who stand
in its path, one helpless victim at a time. There's the tacit
implication that eventually, everyone will be exposed to it and get
tossed onto the grim statistics pile.

Plague language infers a sense of powerlessness, that there's nothing
we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones from meth's deadly embrace.

The same dire fears were expressed about opium in the Victorian era,
reefer madness in the 1930s, LSD in the '60s, cocaine in the '80s and
crack in the '90s.

"Meth," says Kwan, "is just a fad. It's in fashion right now."

Which is not to minimize the drug's dangers. It is highly addictive
and cheap enough that kids in their early teens can easily afford it.
Chronic use can lead to delusions, paranoia, violent outbursts and
suicidal depression. Addicts often experience terrifyingly rapid
weight loss, insomnia, skin lesions, and even rotting teeth.

Traces of highly toxic chemicals can be found in meth crystals, and
who knows what long-term effects they will have on users?

Friel and Kwan do a lot of work with families and communities
struggling to come to grips with meth addiction, so they know all too
well its dangers.

But they also know the solution to keeping your family safe.

"The solution is so elementary," says Friel. "Society just doesn't
want to believe it. Stay home and raise your children."

Friel sits back and waits for my reaction. He and Kwan have been
pilloried more than a few times for their Dr. Laura-esque assertions,
and are prepared to take the heat again.

This time, it's not coming. I want to hear more.

Crystal meth, Kwan explains, is a symptom, not the disease. The real
disease is the failure of parents to do their jobs.

Friel says the two things every parent must provide for their
children are consistency and security.

"There are different ways of providing that," he says, "I might not
agree with a parents' method of doing it, but it must be done."

The most important thing parents can do, Friel states as emphatically
as any fire-and-brimstone preacher, is to be a role model to their children.

"If you don't want your kids to smoke, then don't smoke!" he says.

The upcoming issue of Maclean's magazine illustrates his point
perfectly. The cover story is entitled, "Pass the weed, Dad" and
asks, "Parents are smoking up with their kids. What are they thinking?"

"You can't blame the drug dealer, and you certainly can't blame the
kid," Friel says. "The real question is, who's parenting these children?"

These days, it seems far too many parents either check out of their
relationship with their kids entirely, or are too busy trying to be
cool buddies with their kids to do the job that's really required of them.

Len Untereiner, head of the Spirit Keeper Youth Society, agrees
entirely with Friel and Kwan, and collaborates with them on anti-drug
workshops.

"People need to realize that (properly) raising kids isn't a
sacrifice, it's a privilege."