DRUG COMES IN MANY FORMS

At the age of 18, Jerry decided he wanted to try every drug at least once.

He started with alcohol, pot and cocaine.

Then he found crystal meth.

"I remember thinking it was the best thing ever," he said. "I could talk
and talk and talk - it was so cheap and a big bang for your buck."

Within a year, Jerry (not his real name) was using every day, and spending
much of his free time at a "gack house" (meth users' equivalent of a crack
cocaine house). He became a driver for dealers in return for free drugs and
eventually turned to crime to support his habit.

Today he's a tall, stocky man, smartly dressed in black jeans and T-shirt,
with short dark hair and a contagious laugh. But just four years ago he was
pale and gaunt, having dropped 30 pounds in just a few weeks.

And then there was the paranoia.

He became convinced people wanted to kill him. He thought mini-cameras had
been set up in his car and at his home. Once he filled a can with gasoline
and was ready to fight back by burning his enemies and their homes.

He needed help, and he knew it. "The day I asked mom to bring me to the
doctor I told her Regis and Kathy-Lee (from the TV show) had been making
fun of me for an hour," said Jerry. "I was just gone - crazy."

Jerry is one of the lucky ones - he broke free. But thousands of other,
mostly young users remain in the vicious dance of highs, lows and crashes
that can end in permanent brain damage.

Known on the street as crystal meth, crank, glass or zip, methamphetamine
is a powerful drug that releases high levels of chemicals into areas of the
brain that regulate feelings of pleasure. It increases wakefulness and
physical activity, and decreases appetite.

Meth comes in many forms and can be snorted, swallowed, injected or smoked.

Crystal meth is cheap. A "point" (0.1 grams) of the drug costs under $20
and the high lasts for hours. Users - commonly between the ages of 12 to 18
- - can maintain a habit for as little as $5 a day.

Because the effects of meth last up to three days, during which time users
often don't sleep or eat, it's particularly attractive to teenage girls who
use it for weight control.

In just two years, crystal meth has overtaken cocaine as the third most
popular drug (after alcohol and marijuana) in the Fraser Health Authority
(FHA). "We've seen an increase right across Fraser Health and in fact
provincially in the use of crystal meth, particularly in youth. It's a very
dangerous drug," said Sherry Mumford, addictions leader for the FHA.

"We're seeing an increasing number of people coming into addiction clinics
telling workers crystal meth is their drug of choice."

A 2002 survey of close to 2,000 students in the Lower Mainland found 19 per
cent had tried crystal meth. The same study found the average age for first
use of the drug was just over 14. Most could obtain it in under 24 hours.

Methamphetamine is exceptionally toxic. High doses can elevate body
temperature to dangerous, even lethal levels, and can cause convulsions.

When long-term users - "tweakers" - try to kick the drug, they often
experience depression, confusion, fatigue and aggression.

And that makes getting off crystal meth extremely difficult. Many addicts
learn to make the drug themselves. Some begin taking the ingredients
without mixing them.

There is a unique danger in using crystal meth because it leads to
psychosis in some users. This can take the form of paranoia, hallucinations
and delusions, which in turn can lead to homicidal and suicidal thoughts.

As for Jerry, he's been clean for 18 months. Today he counsels kids in
Grades 10 to 12 about the dangers of meth.

And the voices that were in his head?

"On a bad day, they're still there," he said. "But now I don't run with it."