TEENAGER SELLS SOUL FOR DRUGS

Three years ago, a 13-year-old Prince Albert teenager tried crystal
meth for the first time.

She didn't feel pressured to do it. She just decided to try it.

"It's always your own choice," said the teen, who is now 16. Since the
girl is less than 18 years old, her name has not been published to
protect her identity.

Four months later, the young teenager tried crystal meth again. She
started doing the drug just on weekends, but that soon turned into
every day for the next three years.

"I definitely didn't think I was addicted," she said.

Later, the girl began leaving home in the middle of the night,
wouldn't eat and could stay awake for days. Then, light bulbs and
other items started going missing from home.

The choice to do crystal meth eventually pushed the young girl into a
life on the streets, living out of a filthy home and selling drugs to
others, some who were even younger than her.

At times, she would fly into a rage and become violent, often
physically fighting her parents, who tried to get her into a rehab
facility.

The girl's behaviour was a far cry from the happy person she used be,
her mother says. A good student, singer and athlete, the girl says she
sold her soul for crystal meth.

"She was just one of those good kids," her mother said.

"My daughter before the drug still isn't back, and I don't know if she
ever will be ... and it terrifies me."

The girl spent several days under psychiatric care while using crystal
meth, begging to be let free and refusing to enter detox. Eventually,
she was arrested for possessing crystal meth and ended up in court.

That's what her mother calls a lucky break. The criminal charges not
only forced her young daughter into drug rehab, but she had to stay
there.

The charges against her are still pending.

Previous attempts to get the girl into rehab were unsuccessful.
Saskatchewan does not have a law that allows parents to force their
children into drug treatment.

It's a law her mother hopes to see changed.

"It just blows my mind that the government doesn't allow us to
parent," said the girl's mother.

However, the provincial government did recently announce several
initiatives aimed at targeting drug abuse through prevention,
treatment, education and a reduction of supplies used to make the drug.

The plan includes a public awareness campaign, more services to help
youth withdraw from alcohol and drugs, more brief detox services for
short-term stays and community outreach centres to help youth living
on the street and families with children dealing with severe substance
abuse issues.

The strategy also includes mobile drug treatment for northern
Saskatchewan communities, which have a high rate of alcohol dependency
and drug abuse. Youth, aboriginal people, northern Saskatchewan
residents and those on the street will be targeted under the plan.

On Sunday, the province also launched a confidential health
information advice line with 24-hour addictions counselling for drug
users and their families.

Now, having been clean for several months, the girl says she doesn't
know why she ever tried crystal meth. Although she no longer uses, the
drug has left her with long-term brain damage, including short-term
memory loss.

"If you haven't tried it, don't try it ... you have so much to lose,
you're not going to be OK," she said.

"I don't even know what I got out of it."