Pubdate: Thu, 30 Nov 2006
Source: Georgia Straight, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Georgia Straight
Contact:  http://www.straight.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1084
Author: Charlie Smith

EX-ADDICTS RECALL THE STRUGGLE OF METH LIFE

Jordan Fields recalls how easy it was to find shelter when he was 
hooked on crystal meth. The 27-year-old Vancouver resident said that 
sometimes, it was as simple as stealing a set of postal keys, which 
Canada Post staff use to deliver the mail.

"That would get me into an apartment building," Fields told the 
Georgia Straight. "If I was in an apartment building, I was warm. I 
could go into the parking lot to find abandoned cars, and sleep in 
these cars. That was how I first got into breaking into cars."

Fields, who has been in recovery for 16 months, now has a chance to 
make amends for his previous life of drug-induced crime. He has been 
cast in the role of Trey, a drug dealer, in a new production called 
Meth by Headlines Theatre. It will be performed at the Japanese Hall, 
475 Alexander Street, from November 30 to December 3, and again from 
December 6 to 10. In the new year, Meth will go on tour, stopping in 
26 communities across the province.

The company has recruited former meth addicts and relatives of 
addicts to play roles in a forum-theatre play. In forum theatre, 
audience members get a chance to yell "Stop", come up on-stage, and 
replace a cast member to demonstrate how they would deal with a 
particular situation.

Fields said he's glad that Headlines has given him a chance to give 
something back to the community. "This is a huge thing for me," he 
said. "People can see what it's like for a meth addict through this play."

Kayla Cardinal, a 17-year-old from Prince George, plays Karen, a 
young girl who is drawn into the world of crystal meth. Like Fields, 
Cardinal also struggled with a meth addiction, and has been clean for 
15 months after going through treatment.

Cardinal told the Straight that she was 14 when she first tried 
snorting the drug. She had been drinking, and it wasn't a pleasant 
experience. "My friends told me that I ended up passing out, just 
puking on the couch, and turning blue," she said. "I got really sick. 
I don't remember a whole lot."

Cardinal said she tried meth again two months later and continued 
using for two years. During this period, she worked at McDonald's and 
lived at home. She said that family and friends got her into 
treatment. "I had made a lot of poor choices through my addiction," 
Cardinal recalled.

In October, the B.C. government launched a $3-million school-based 
education program to try to discourage crystal-meth use among 
teenagers. At the time, Education Minister Shirley Bond, who 
represents a Prince George constituency, cited research showing that 
five percent of students in grades seven through 12 may have tried 
crystal meth.

Cardinal, however, estimated that at least 15 percent of high-school 
students in Prince George have tried the drug. "Kids choose it as a 
way to cope," she said. "It's like the easy way out. I'm not going to 
lie to you--it's fun." However, she said that the fun stops when the 
drug begins taking a physical toll. "I didn't get a lot of the burns, 
like people hear about, on my face," she said. "I got some."

She added that she lost so much weight that her eyes sank into her 
head, and her mother thought she had an eating disorder. Cardinal 
said that after her mother learned the truth, she was given a choice: 
either get treatment or move out.

Jordan Fields said that it's almost impossible to get through to a 
person in the throes of crystal-meth addiction. "I was really 
depressed," he recalled. "I was super-paranoid. I only came out at 
nighttime. Anyone I saw was a cop. I was hiding in bushes."

In the end, he said, a girlfriend's mother steered him into 
treatment. He added that since he began rehearsals, he has had 
intense dreams of using drugs again. "I'm reliving these emotions," Fields said.
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