CRYSTAL METH TAKING OVER IN LANGLEY

Editor: I'd have to agree with everything Cindy Van Beek said in her letter
(The Times, May 19). I moved to Vancouver five years ago from Langley.

I've seen crystal meth take over hundreds of lives to the point where a
drug, or the dishonest culture that revolves around it, becomes a stable
sense of identity. It's something that needs to be addressed with action;
otherwise you'll see your own kids following in these addicts' footsteps.

Every parent should know that kids growing up will go through periods of
"adolescent rebellion" which is really only them looking at the outside
world from a perspective defined on their own level, as opposed to a
parental level. Kids want to learn their own lessons.

Now say we've got all these kids, raised by decent parents, problems or
not, wandering around what used to be a great country town looking for a
sense of identity. You have to wonder how attractive it's going to be doing
all this cool rebellious stuff, with crystal meth and crack politely
offered as dessert.

How were the kids you wrote about exposed to drugs? They were most likely
alright kids with a bunch of potential before the fact.

The sad reality is that potential is a car with an empty tank of gas. With
gas prices soaring and crystal meth available on dozens of Langley street
corners, the potential of Langley youth is sure to be curbed.

Now I don't know if that's the whole idea, with the Downtown Langley
Merchants Association failing to recognize that these kids are actually the
future of your town. They want to shut down the venues in which they feel
free and able to express themselves. It seems like there is a bias
developing on both sides.

But from where I'm at, the kids actually know how to solve problems better
than the grown-ups. Blinders only work on horses at the race track.

Langley is faced with a problem that could become a plague to its youth,
and by turning a blind eye, you're filling up the largest kid-killing gas
tank imaginable.

Jeremy Crowle, Vancouver