CRYSTAL METH, ECSTASY PRESENTATION HELD
FOR SCHOOL DIVISION

"My wife and I had made a pact that we wouldn't cry--we would show we were
strong parents," John Watson told Moosomin School Division students in a
presentation at McNaughton High last Monday. "But then I felt the tears
coming. I couldn't stop and then she couldn't stop." Watson was describing
the pain he and his wife Wanda went through the night their son,
20-year-old Jimmy Dean, died of an ecstasy overdose.

That was last February. Since then, Watson has devoted his life to
travelling to schools and warning students about the dangers of crystal
meth and ecstasy, two drugs that are growing problems in rural
Saskatchewan. Watson, who is from the Ochapowace First Nation, did his
presentation for Rocanville and Wapella students on Monday morning in
Rocanville and again at McNaughton High for Moosomin and Maryfield students
on Monday afternoon.

He told the audience about the morning that he and Wanda got a call from
their son's girlfriend, informing them that Jimmy Dean was in a coma. When
John and Wanda arrived at the hospital, Jimmy Dean was on life support.

"We talked to him-- 'Jimmy, fight back, boy. Don't leave us, boy,' " Watson
remembers. But at 5:20 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2004, Jimmy Dean was pronounced
dead from an overdose of ecstasy. Watson, who choked up with tears at the
end of his presentation on Monday, told the World-Spectator that some days,
it is incredibly difficult to speak to audiences about his loss. But it is
something he feels he has to do, to save other parents from having to go
through the same nightmare. "At some schools it's really hard, and then at
the next it will be easier," Watson said. "Then I think maybe it's his
(Jimmy's) spirit guiding me."

Watson said he made the decision to start speaking out about the dangers of
ecstasy and crystal meth three days after his son was buried. He doesn't
expect to reach every student who comes to hear his presentation, but he
does hope it will make an impression on some of them. "This will give them
something to think about--then it's up to them," Watson said. "No one can
make our choices for us."

Sergeant John Hodgson of the Moosomin RCMP says that crystal meth and
ecstasy haven't come to the attention of RCMP in this area yet, but these
drugs are becoming increasingly common in rural Saskatchewan. He says
presentations like the one on Monday are a good way to start when it comes
to prevention. That is exactly what the board of the Moosomin School
Division was hoping when it decided to have Watson give his presentation.
School board chair Marg Gordon says she wouldn't want to say whether drugs
like crystal meth and ecstasy are a problem in the Moosomin School
Division, but the board just wanted to make sure students are informed
about the dangers. "We're concerned that the information gets out," Gordon
says. "I don't think any young person is immune."

School division counsellor Sherril Roberts agrees. "They (these drugs) are
so dangerous. If it's here, then eventually someone's going to get hurt,"
she says. "We don't reach everyone, we know that. But I feel if you save
one life or have one or two kids make the choice not to do that, then it's
worth it."

Students Hear Emotional Anti-Drug Message

Kassandra Shaw, McNaughton High student and president of Moosomin's SADD
(Students Against Drinking and Driving) group, says she knows that drugs
are a problem in the Moosomin area. "Maybe not as much as in some of the
big cities, but they definitely are," she says. Shaw says she thinks
Watson's presentation sends a good message to students by showing themthat
the dangers of drugs are not an exaggeration. "I think the biggest thing
is, whether it stops some people who are already doing it or not, maybe it
will make other people who don't think it's reality realize that it is,"
Shaw says.

For John Watson, the reality of drugs has hit far too close to home. He
concluded his presentation by asking students to think about the people who
love them when they make their decisions. "Those of you that have parents,
I ask you to think of the choices you'll have to make when you head off to
university,"Watson said. "Remember me and my baby Jimmy Dean."

The Moosomin School Division is also working on organizing a crystal meth
and ecstasy information night for parents that will take place in the near
future.