Pubdate: Wed, 24 May 2006 Source: Kelowna Capital News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006, West Partners Publishing Ltd. Contact: http://www.kelownacapnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1294 Author: Jennifer Smith ADDICTION 'HUSH HUSH' APPROACH CALLED WRONG No mother can forget the moment her child is born. For 20 year-old Kelsie Richardson, it is a moment hundreds, if not thousands, of perfect strangers won't forget either. Watching the documentary Crystal Fear, Crystal Clear, more than 100 Kelowna residents assembled at the Mary Irwin Theatre Tuesday night felt their hearts seize as tiny Brianne Richardson takes along pause before starting to breath. On camera, the young mother who struggled to get off crystal meth, get her General Equivalency Diploma and save her and her baby's life whimpers quietly after an emergency C-section. Nearly two years later, this young mother was in town to teach other parents, professionals and teens about the dangerous drug, described by panel speaker Dr. Gabor Mate as producing 1,200 per cent more of the euphoria-inducing hormone dopamine than naturally occurs in the brain. A drug like alcohol produces just 100 per cent more; cocaine just 50 per cent increase. In town to speak publicly for the first time about the documentary, Richardson was ask what she needed to hear to get off drugs. "When you're on meth there's nothing you can say to them," she answered. "All you can do is tell them you love them." It was a resounding theme of the three-hour presentation which kicks of the 90- day convening of a Crystal Meth task force. If there was one message Mate, an addictions specialist working in the downtown Vancouver Eastside, drove home, it was the importance of family involvement, the importance of staying connected. It is a message that clearly proves true in Richardson's case. Once a meth-addicted teen whose mother described on film as using copious amounts of Gravol to ease her suffering as she came down from the outrageous high, Richardson is now a responsible mother herself who has conquered her addiction with the help of her mother. Waitressing at the Hope Drive-In to support her daughter, she is, as one audience member stood up to tell her, a "beautiful" girl and a beautiful spokesperson for the need to educate today's youth. Asked in interview after the forum if she knew what she was getting into when she tried meth, Richardson was emphatic. "No. I had no idea," she said. Asked why she took time out to attend last night's forum, she said: "I just think there needs to be something done about (crystal meth)." It is as her mother describes on film: "Some people would want to keep it hush hush, but I don't think it's the right thing to do." The Crystal Meth task force project has been assembled by the Living Positive Resource Centre with the City of Kelowna's support. The group is still looking for volunteers to fill spots on the three groups--education, enforcement and treatment. For information contact Brian Mairs or Daryle Roberts at 862-2481. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake