Pubdate: Sun, 25 Sep 2005
Source: Napa Valley Register (CA)
Copyright: 2005 Pulitzer Community Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.napanews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/736
Author: Marsha Dorgan, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

A MOM BEHIND BARS

Chronic Meth Addiction Plagues Napa Woman, 19

Angela Hunt could have been homecoming queen, valedictorian or on the 
honor roll at Napa High School.

But unlike most 19-year-olds, who are preparing to head off to 
college or enter the workplace, the most important thing in Hunt's 
future is that she gets into a residential drug treatment program.

Hunt is serving 180 days in Napa County jail for possession and being 
under the influence of methamphetamine. The mother of Shanna, 5, and 
Richard, 2, Hunt said she wants to change her life and be the mom her 
kids deserve. But she admits it's not going to be an easy road. Hunt, 
who grew up in Napa, started using drugs when she was 12, got 
pregnant at 13, became a mother at 14, and again at 17.

Getting high on meth is a way of life for Hunt. This is the fifth 
time she's been in jail for drugs.

"It's going to be the last time. I don't want to come here again," 
she said. "It's going to be really tough to get off meth, but I 
really want to. I don't want to spend the rest of my life seeing my 
kids through a plate glass window."

For Hunt, a petite woman with large brown eyes, her teen years have 
been a roller coaster of pregnancies, encounters with police and 
getting high on meth.

"I always wanted to be part of the crowd, fit in," she said. "So, I 
started snorting (cocaine) and smoking (meth) on an almost daily 
basis. I was also obsessed with my weight. I always had a problem 
with my weight. Men don't want anything to do with fat girls.

"When I did meth, I wouldn't eat, sometimes for days. I got thin, 
stayed thin. I used to feel better about myself -- like people liked 
me more -- when I was high on meth."

As a juvenile, Hunt was a chronic runaway. She says she ran away from 
home 17 times before landing in juvenile hall.

"I learned I was pregnant with my daughter when I was in juvenile 
hall," she said. "I didn't go to school very often. I never had any 
of the school experiences other kids have had, but at the time, it 
didn't matter. I had my meth and there was nothing more important in 
life but getting high."

When Hunt found out she was going to jail for six months this last 
time, she gave custody of her children to her mother, Celeste Sehgal.

Richard's father sees him often. Shanna's dad is not in the picture. 
"I don't know who her father is," Hunt said.

Hunt admits she has made her mother's life "hell at times."

"My mom has been through so much. But she has always been there for 
me and stood behind me. She always tells me, 'You are my kids and I 
will never turn my back on you,'" Hunt said.

Sehgal, 46, works a full-time job n Sonoma. While taking care of 
Shanna and Richard, she moved into Hunt's home in north Napa to avoid 
disrupting her grandchildren's lives any more than necessary.

"God never gave up on me, how can I give up on Angela?" Sehgal said, 
admitting she also did drugs before Angela was born.

"We never ask ourselves what makes us love our children, we just do. 
I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't do everything 
possible to help her straighten out her life," Sehgal said.

Sehgal brings Shanna and Richard to visit their mother in jail at 
least once a week.

"It's so hard to have them see me this way," Hunt said. "I have been 
honest with my daughter. She knows I have a drug problem. I told her 
I have a very bad habit that is very hard for me to quit. I try to 
explain it in a language a 5-year-old understands. My mom says my son 
wakes up at night, crying for me. Both of the kids are insecure. When 
I use meth, I will take off for days. Then when I come home to crash, 
they won't leave my side."

Hunt finds it hard to explain why she continues to use meth.

"It's a rush. You think you can do anything. I also use drugs to 
escape," she said. "I get crazy when I go on a meth run."

A meth run is when a user takes meth for several days, never coming 
off the high until they finally run out of energy or the drug. 
Earlier this year, Hunt was arrested while on a meth run. She was 
taken into custody after officers found her running in and out of 
traffic at Trancas Street and Soscol Avenue on a busy weekday afternoon.

Hunt has high hopes for her recovery.

"I think I really learned my lesson this time. I am not a bad 
person," she said. "I have just made so many stupid mistakes and 
choices. And all of it because of my meth habit."
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