FORMER ECSTASY ABUSER TALKS TO TEENS

Julian Madigan glanced in a full-length hall mirror as he stumbled toward
his bedroom, having just taken a beating over a $1,500 drug debt.

Then 19-and after four years of constant ecstasy, speed and marijuana
abuse-Madigan saw a gaunt youth, with bleached blonde hair, jaw line and
cheekbone etched against his pale skin. His eyes were blackened from
hitting the pavement after the dealer to whom he owed money belted him from
behind.

The look in the mirror was a turning point for the former champion swimmer
who quit school to immerse himself in Ireland's rave scene during its
heyday in the 1990s.

After admitting to his dad the extent of his addiction and drug-related
woes, the Irish teen spent three months never leaving home without a
guardian and weaning himself from drugs and his circle of former friends.
In 1996, his book The Agony of Ecstasy made the bestseller list in the UK.
He has since moved to Calgary, making a living talking to teens about the
possible negative effects of drug use.

Last Thursday, he dazzled about 600 students at Lord Byng Elementary School
on West 16th Avenue with his colourful, two-hour presentation. By this
Wednesday he will have made the same pitch to students at Magee, Eric
Hamber, Templeton, Britannia, Kitsilano, Windermere, University Hill and
St. John's schools.

"I don't tell them not to do it. Just what can happen when you do, and that
it's real misinformation that [drugs are] harmless," said Madigan, who
claims to have addressed a million people as part of his personal campaign
against recreational drug use.

In the strongest part of his pitch, he tells students that after four years
of drug use he had no relationship with his family. His friends had burnt
out with him and had become liars and thieves-three have since killed
themselves. Madigan had no education, no esteem and had permanently damaged
his body.

"When you take drugs at first you'll smile and laugh and have fun, but
things change," he said.

Lord Byng Grade 8 student Devan Karringten says he's talked about drugs
with his friends out of curiosity. But he enjoyed getting the information
from someone who had made it out of the drug scene intact.

"After listening to him the whole thing seems pretty scary," Karringten
said, adding some Lord Byng students smoke pot at school, though he hasn't
heard of harder drugs being used there.

Scott Rintoul, the RCMP's drug awareness officer, said the drug scene has
changed for the worse since Madigan's mid-1990s era, with methamphetamine,
or speed, now the drug of choice among ravers and nightclubbers.

"Last summer I was saying meth use is close to an epidemic. Well, I'm
prepared to say now it is an epidemic," said Rintoul, who's garnered
national respect for his investigation into drug use at raves by testing
seized pills and talking to users instead of arresting them. He expects to
seize 500 more pills at nightclubs this summer that will be tested at UBC.

Rintoul said tests on tablets and capsules sold as ecstasy have been
gradually showing more and more methamphetamine. Some clubbers and ravers
are now buying only speed because it's so cheap-$10 a hit compared to $25
for ecstasy-and the high lasts longer.

"It's also more addictive than cocaine and the front-line social workers I
deal with are seeing it more and more and they are worried."

Madigan, with the help of his dad, will conduct special lectures for
parents on Tuesday night at Templeton, 727 Templeton St., and Wednesday
night at Kitsilano, 2550 West 10th Ave. Both events start at 7 pm., no
registration is required.

Madigan's lectures are paid for by the individual schools and by the
Vancouver Coastal Health Authorities addictions services branch.