Pubdate: Sat, 12 Nov 2005
Source: Surrey Now (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., A Canwest Company
Contact:  http://www.thenownewspaper.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462
Author: Brooke Larsen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?241 (Methamphetamine - Canada)

CRYSTAL METH MADE HER PARANOID, OBSESSED ABOUT HER HONDA CIVIC

Like any bride-to-be, Cheryl was busy, but happy. It was May 2002 and she 
had just been promoted to assistant meat manager at Save-On-Foods in Langley.

But as her wedding day drew near, Cheryl, then 37, began to feel like there 
were not enough hours in the day.

"I was incredibly stressed out and everyone could see it. Then my sister 
said to me, 'I think I've got something that can help you.'"

That something was a highly addictive stimulant called crystal meth.

Cheryl, who now attends a 12-step program in Surrey and does not want her 
family name used in this story, had experimented with marijuana, cocaine 
and magic mushrooms, but she didn't know much about a white crystalline 
powder known as meth.

She didn't know she was risking brain damage, stroke and heart attack, or 
that the coming months would bring hallucinations, depression and, 
ultimately, psychosis.

"At first I felt invincible - I was staying up for three days without sleep 
and getting everything done."

But soon the drug turned Cheryl's mind against her, making her panicked and 
paranoid.

The Abbotsford resident became obsessed with her car, a 1997 Honda Civic, 
convinced that someone had tinkered with it in order to kill her.

"I took that car to 15 different mechanics across the Lower Mainland. They 
all said there was nothing wrong with it, but I was sure I was going to 
crash and die.

"So I got a hold of the repair manual and bought a hydraulic jack and tried 
to fix it myself."

Other bizarre notions took hold: Cheryl dissected and killed all of her 
30-odd houseplants in search of bugs that weren't there. Evil characters 
moved into her condo, lurking at the edges of her vision, vanishing when 
she turned her head.

Cheryl felt like she was losing her mind.

"There were the hallucinations and all that, but on top of that I became a 
shop-aholic," she says with a bitter laugh.

In less than a year, Cheryl emptied the $35,000 savings account she shared 
with her husband and racked up a further $60,000 in debt.

"I couldn't stop. It got so bad that at night I would go into 7-Eleven to 
buy things because nothing else was open."

The addiction proved costly in other ways, too.

After months of hiding it, Cheryl could no longer keep the secret from her 
husband, who eventually convinced her to enter a detox program. Cheryl 
would survive, but her marriage wouldn't.

"I also lost my job - not because I got fired, but because I quit. I told 
them that I had to go take care of my problem."

Cheryl's first attempt to quit crystal meth failed - before long she was 
using again - but in December 2004 she checked into Peardonville House 
treatment centre in Abbotsford.

In February 2005 she checked out, and she's been clean ever since.

Cheryl says she feels lucky that she escaped crystal meth with her health 
relatively unharmed, although she did end up with a hole in her septum and 
minor vision problems.

 From time to time she still thinks about using again, simply as a way to 
lose weight.

"All my life I've been 110 pounds, and now I weigh 160. If I did it again, 
I know I'd lose weight, but my life is more important than that."

Cheryl, now 40, is part of a construction crew that's working on an 
expansion of Cloverdale's Fraser Downs Racetrack and Casino. But she's 
hoping one day she can get her old job back at Save-On-Foods.

She's also joined a 12-step program in Surrey, which she wouldn't talk 
about because of the group's privacy policy. The group meets Mondays at 7 
p.m. at Cloverdale Fellowship church, 5744 175th St., located in the alley 
behind the Safeway store. For information, call 604-574-7051 or click on 
www.crystalmeth.org.

"What I will say about the group is that I feel better sharing my story 
with other people who've gone through the same thing. I'm happier now. I've 
slowed down.

"Hearing other people's story makes me feel like I'm not crazy."

A public forum dealing with crystal meth and hosted by the Surrey 
Methamphetamine Regional Task Force has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 
15 at the Bell Performing Arts Centre, from 7 to 9 p.m. at 6250 144th St. 
in Surrey.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom