TERRIBLE SCOURGE OF CRYSTAL METH

Crystal meth has ruined Dana's life. The powerfully addictive drug has
crippled her financially, left her emotionally scarred and made Dana a
pariah in her community. And she's never even used it.

Dana is the mother of a 20-year-old methamphetamine addict. (She asked
that her real name not be used to protect her daughter's identity.) A
little over a year ago, Dana's daughter, whom we'll call Julie, was a
promising apprentice hair stylist.

That's when Julie was introduced to meth. She became increasingly
moody, secretive and hostile. She lost weight and never seemed to
sleep. Her moodiness degenerated into emotional instability. Her
secretiveness became paranoia. Her hostility became brutal volatility.

Last December, Dana was forced to throw her daughter out of their home
after Julie physically attacked her. A few weeks ago, Julie was
arrested for her part in a bungled liquor store robbery. Dana was
dragged into this latest quagmire because the would-be robbers were
using her car.

"She's back home now," Dana said. "Some of my friends think I'm crazy
for letting her come back, but what else is a mother supposed to do?"

Dana is taking anti-depressants to help her handle the stress, anxiety
and anguish of watching helplessly as her daughter slowly destroys her
life.

"She's a beautiful, intelligent girl who had a promising career," she
said. "Now even having a normal conversation with her is difficult.
She's mentally unstable - her reasoning and thought patterns make no
sense sometimes."

Compounding Dana's shame and pain is the reaction of many friends and
neighbours. "People I've been very close to are different around me
now. It's as if they're thinking, 'Obviously she's done something
wrong as a mother or her daughter wouldn't be like that,' or 'Why
isn't she doing something to fix the problem?' "

Tragically, Dana's story is far from unique. A few weeks ago I wrote
about the mainstreaming of crystal meth, a highly potent form of
speed. It's been around since the 1970s, but until recently was
considered a dirty street drug, like crack cocaine. In recent years it
has gained wider acceptance and is used by the night club set, by
professionals working long hours and even as a weight-loss tool. After
the column ran in the Sun, dozens of readers e-mailed with the stories
of their devastating experiences with crystal meth.

One woman told of her husband's addiction. "My entire life has been
devastated by this drug. My children have been affected, my
professional life has been affected, and most definitely, my marriage
has been affected. Along with the usual loss of trust, the anger, etc.
that comes with an addiction, we find ourselves now dealing with the
physical problems meth has caused my husband."

Another reader, who manages apartment buildings in downtown Edmonton,
has learned the hard way how to spot the telltale signs of meth labs.
"I have witnessed the busts of two meth labs that were being run out
of suites, and six additional busts for trafficking meth," he said.

Through his job, he's also seen first-hand the effects of meth use.
"One case was this 18-year-old girl who moved into an apartment...
When the girl moved in I would guess she was about five-foot-three and
a healthy 110 pounds. Over the course of the next few weeks she
appeared to lose 20 or more pounds. She looked like death and tried to
cover up her weight loss by wearing baggy clothing, but she couldn't
hide the huge purple circles under her sunken-in eyes, or her skeletal
cheek-bones."

He now faces the daunting task of testifying in court against former
tenants. "It's a scary thing to have to testify against people as
messed up as they are."