STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT THE DANGERS OF CRYSTAL METH

Meth Is A Scary Addictive Drug.

That was the message a pair of police officers gave to Grade 7/8
students at D.A. Gordon last week.

OPP Const. Aaron McPhail gave a presentation about crystal meth and
its dangers, while his colleague Special Constable Randi Hull of the
Chatham-Kent police service also spoke and answered questions for the
inquisitive students.

McPhail said the presentation is to give students information so they
can make good choices.

Interposed in McPhail's presentation of what meth was and what it
does, were numerous slides of before and after pictures of meth users.

The after pictures showed people who had aged quickly and often had
sores across their face, as their appearance was a stark contrast
downward from their before pictures.

Hull admitted that the effect of the pictures was to scare the
students. "A dose of reality definitely. It's a matter of they don't
realize that some of the (dangerous) things that they're choosing to
put into their body like meth and the long-lasting affects it has."

Crystal meth is methamphetamine hydrochloride, the street form of the
drug methamphetamine that comes in clear, chunky crystals that look like ice.

Hull said meth is not a huge problem locally, but it's becoming more
common. She said meth is in Chatham-Kent.

McPhail pointed out that one reason meth is on the rise locally is
because it can be produced quite easily with ingredients that are
easy to obtain.