TEEN'S METH NIGHTMARE

Edmonton Cops Believe Drug Use Is Fuelling Violent Crime

Jacob was only 13 when his mom and dad found him slumped in the
basement of a friend's house.

The former football protege and four buddies had set out to get high
but this time they'd smoked more than just joints. Jacob was coming
down from his first methamphetamine hit.

"When we got home, he started punching the walls," said his mom. "He
broke his hand, he attacked his dad, he attacked me. I knew he was on
something because you could see the violence and rage in his eyes. It
wasn't my little 13-year-old boy."

Edmonton police have linked a "scary" increase in local meth use to a
similar spike in robberies - and believe the highly addictive drug is
increasingly related to violent crime and domestic assaults. Doctors
have long associated the drug, which is cheaper to buy on the street
than cocaine and has a longer-lasting high, with violence.

Marilyn Mitchell, manager of youth services for the Alberta Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Commission, said staff have also reported an increase
in the number of kids hooked on meth, but most are at least 16 or 17.

Jacob's 16 now. But by the time he was 15, he'd gone through rehab,
appeared before several court judges and quit school. His family life
was turned upside down.

"I remember the first time I smoked it my buddy, who was 12 years old,
passes it to me and I'm 13," he said. "I was just like 'sure,' and I
tried it. I just wanted to get high."

Jacob had always been a high-energy kid, but he'd channelled his
aggression into his love for football.

Despite his slim stature, he played halfback and corner for a local
elite football team until doctors discovered a birth defect in his
spine which prevented him from playing.

"We all thought that if you cut Jacob's heart out it would be in the
shape of a football," said his mom. "But there was absolutely nothing
that could be done. He was told if he carried on playing the impact
could turn him into a quadriplegic or kill him. It was downhill from
there."

Jacob tried to hide his meth habit from his parents, but it was
futile. His school grades started to plummet and he became
increasingly violent, said his mother.

After fighting with his parents and running away, Jacob returned home
to find himself face-to-face with social workers, who provided
one-on-one care for 24 hours straight.

"We had to lock him up downstairs and take all the knives and
everything he could use against himself," she said. "He said he was
going to slash his wrists."

That same night Jacob tried to attack a social worker. "The social
worker was able to contain him but he came running down the hall," she
said. "He got so close to his dad's throat with a knife but the social
worker grabbed it just in time. That's when they decided to take him
to a young offender's rehab program."

Jacob was classified as a danger to himself and spent the next 28 days
at Yellowhead Youth Centre.

Much of that time was spent learning about the dangers of drugs
including methamphetamine. But despite the warnings, Jacob just wanted
to get high.

"I read all the information and all the ___ it does to you. I didn't
care," said Jacob.

"But it sucks coming off and some people, in their minds, they just
can't say no. Some parents can't do anything if their kids are addicted."

Jacob claims he was never addicted but after getting out of rehab, he
had another fight with his mom and ran away. He was placed in a group
home, but ran away from there, too, said his mother.

"I believe all he wanted to do was go out and get more drugs," she
said. "On Aug. 25, (2001) I took him out to dinner for his birthday
and we had a really nice time. But that night he got a call from his
cousin and he wanted to meet him downtown. I said no."

An argument between mom and son became violent and his mother asked
police to formally charge her son with assault. Later that night, she
tried to commit suicide.

"I had just charged my baby with assault and I was gulping pills down
with Southern Comfort," she said. "I couldn't believe I was living in
this nightmare and I didn't want to be part of it anymore."

She woke up the next morning and spent the next two days in bed,
crying. But she recovered to see her son, now 16, get a job and start
to turn his life around.

"I haven't done meth for a while - I think it's just disgusting," said
Jacob. "I used it so much that after a while, I had to smoke some just
to get to sleep. It messes with your brain. It's a poor man's crack -
it's dirty."

Jacob said he was downtown one morning when his cousin, who was also a
meth user, started shaking wildly.

"He starts doing the shakes and then the saliva came out. I turned him
on his side and called 911. I thought his lungs were going to stop so
I was like, 'breathe, breathe.' "

His mom credits her son with saving his cousin's life and believes it
had a more profound effect on him than several run-ins with police,
court appearances and rehab.

"He's just starting to come out of the fog," she said. "When he was on
meth it was like it wasn't him. This whole thing has been like an
exorcism. That's what it did to him."