PROFILE OF COURAGE: HOW ONE MAN CAME BACK

Randy Miller is, and has been, a lot of things in his life but above
all he's a survivor and even that took a lot of luck.

"I have no idea why I survived," said the affable former drug addict
who was in town last week to describe for local students his 14 years
living in Vancouver's downtown eastside, widely known as Canada's
roughest slum. "I did speedballs (a mixture of heroin and cocaine)
many, many times a day, and we used to just take a needle off the
wall, sharpen it as best we could, then use it and put it back in the
wall for the next guy. I have no idea why I didn't get AIDS."

Miller spoke to a large gathering of local Grade 10 through 12 high
school students at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School and held back
nothing.

"I'm not here to preach to you," Miller said. "You make your own
choices in life. I just want you to have the facts. After that,
whatever you do is up to you. But if you do make the decision to take
drugs, know the possible consequences in advance. That's all I'm
saying."

His presentation was enhanced by viewing the documentary entitled
Through A Blue Lens. The film was shot by East Vancouver police
Const. Mark Steinkampf and Sgt. Toby Hinton who were part of a
five-man drug unit dubbed the Odd Squad. They were also at PSO trying
to explain why people do drugs, the possible effects and how to
avoid the pitfalls associated with drugs.

Hinton got to know Miller quite well when filming him at his worst.
That graphic footage touched many in the audience, and it was even
more moving when the film ended and Miller got up to address the
students in person.

Many of those in the film are dead now. Miller is the lone real
success story, being in recovery for the past seven years.

"For about a year and a half I couldn't even watch the film," he
admitted. "I had to go into the hallway and come back when it was
over. It made me sick to my stomach to see myself like that."

Miller has given many talks to young people about his experiences,
travelling all across Canada and even the far north. Last year he was
the recipient of the prestigious Courage To Come Back Award. He
explained how drug addiction begins.

"If I give a kid a bag of candy, I don't get that bag of candy back
until he eats 'em all," said Miller. "That's because he likes 'em.
There are people--and I'm one of them I guess--who have an addictive
personality. But I didn't know that. What I know is that the first hit
is always free. They keep giving stuff to you. In my case it was nine
days. Then you're hooked. You want another hit."

Miller was a talented hockey player, good enough to dream of one day
making it to the National Hockey League. He was good enough to play
junior in New Westminster when he was only 15 years old.

"I was pretty good at everything in sports," he says. "I was a good
lacrosse player, I could play baseball and I was a track star. I got
hooked up with a girl, she was Miss New Westminster, and she was a
knockout. Hey, I was 15, you know what I'm saying? What I didn't know
was she was a drug addict. She came over to my house every day for a
month one summer. Then one day she came over and said she couldn't
score enough dope for both of us, just for herself. I thought, no
problem. But after a few hours I started to shake, I got diarrhea,
stuff was coming out of every orifice in my body. I thought I was
coming down with the flu. That's when I found out I was hooked. I
didn't know, I was uneducated. So I'm here today to educate you, give
you the facts."