STUDENTS WARNED ABOUT THE DANGERS OF METH

A Drug Free Schools coordinator told children at Freedom Elementary
the drug is made of battery acid.

By Becky Orr

CHEYENNE - Children in a class at Freedom Elementary asked Lori
Moseley plenty of questions Wednesday.

Moseley told them about the dangers of methamphetamine and to stay
away from it.

Moseley, with the Safe and Drug Free Schools program for Laramie
County School District 1, carefully explained what meth use can do to
a person. "You don't ever want to take a drug from anyone," she said.

"What's the needle for?" one student asked, gesturing toward the
syringe pictured on the meth education poster Moseley brought to class.

The needle is how some people who take meth get it into their
systems, Moseley said.

"Why do people make that stuff?" another child asked.

"They just want to make money," Moseley said.

Moseley and others talked to children Wednesday during an all-day
program at the school called "Be Smart. Be Safe."

The program included information on the disastrous effects of meth,
Internet safety and bullying. Speakers also talked about an anonymous
tip line for students and told primary kids about the importance of
washing their hands.

The program gave young people good information to make sound
decisions, Principal Cynthia Farwell said.

Karen Carleo, a school social worker and coordinator of the event,
called it an awareness day.

The children listened closely to Moseley. "Meth is the most highly
addictive drug today. It gets your body racing faster."

"How many know what battery acid is?" she asked. "If it falls on your
jeans, it will burn a hole in seconds."

Yet battery acid is used to make the drug, she added. "It's got to be
burning you from the inside out," she said.

Drain cleaner and antifreeze are other ingredients, she said, as
children reacted with surprise. Drain cleaner works on metal, but not
humans, she added.

She told youngsters that people who use meth lose their teeth and can
drop so much weight that it can kill them. They see things that
aren't there and become aggressive.

"It actually will put a hole in the brain," she said. The drug makes
people sick. "If you've ever had the flu, that's nothing compared to
meth."

Student Matty Pidgeon, 8, said he had never heard of meth before. But
he will stay away from it.

"It gives you heart disease," he said. "You get addicted. That's why
they make it - to get money."