Pubdate: Fri, 03 Oct 2008
Source: Whidbey News-Times (WA)
Copyright: 2008 Whidbey News Times
Contact:  http://www.whidbeynewstimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2099
Author: Liza Burlingame
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?135 (Drug Education)

REFORMED METH ADDICT WARNS STUDENTS

In Leandra Reuble's English classroom, a trifold poster board is 
scrawled with messages and photos warning against the use of crystal 
meth. One Midway High School student wrote, "Not as glamorous as it 
looks!" next to a photo of an emaciated man.

Although the board was created several years ago, the next generation 
of students protested its removal.

"There isn't a drug problem at Midway," Reuble said. "Most who have 
experienced it have been through rehab and are past it. But they want 
to get the message to other kids, who don't think it will touch them."

Last Tuesday, the dangers became more personal when Jamie Crawford, 
23, of Yakima, shared her story of methamphetamine addiction with 
students at Oak Harbor's Midway High School. She was there as part of 
a campaign by Attorney General Rob McKenna: "Operation: Allied Against Meth."

McKenna was called away to Washington, D.C. for the financial crisis 
and could not attend.

Anti-drug activist Travis Talbot and Crawford spent 45 minutes with 
students, providing facts and showing them video clips.

The average life span of a habitual meth user is five years, Talbot 
told students. Washington has one of the most serious meth epidemics 
in the country, due in part to cross-border trafficking. It has the 
largest number of federal drug seizures of meth in the Pacific region.

"Meth reminds me of a controlling relationship. You don't see what 
they are at the very beginning," Talbot said.

Part of Talbot's work as the executive director of the nonprofit Lead 
On Americawas to visit neighborhoods and help them remove meth 
houses. He told the teens about the paranoia he witnessed and that 90 
percent of people become addicted to meth the first time they try it.

To put the statistics in perspective, Crawford stepped up and 
described the drug culture and lifestyle she once lived. She said she 
first tried meth as a teen, later dropping out of school and spending 
time in prison.

At age 16, she saw a man get his finger chopped off over a pack of 
cigarettes. By 17, she knew five people who were murdered, and she 
knew who committed the crimes.

"We were so selfish. We didn't care," she said.

Eventually, Crawford got clean after facing a long sentence in 
prison, and earned her GED. She is studying to become a nurse.

Crawford has visited over 50 schools since 2005, giving her speech at 
big assemblies. Friday was her first time speaking to a classroom of 
30. The teens' expressions were somber throughout the speech, and 
they questioned her about what life is like for her now.

She said her brain can't function as it did before the meth use and 
she often forgets things. And because meth damages the dopamine 
neuron, she doesn't feel the same level of joy.

Talbot asked the students if they knew a place to find meth in the 
community. After a long silence, one student said, "It's Oak Harbor, 
you can find it anywhere."

The prevalence, Talbot said, is because meth is easy and cheap to 
produce. Although there were only 200 meth houses reported last year 
(a drastic decline), drug cartels from Canada and Mexico smuggle it 
over the border.

Crawford said positive reinforcement from the family structure could 
help. Her family supported her during her court trials.

"I quit meth because there are bigger and better things for me out 
there. You only live once," Crawford said.

Her story resonated with some of the students, such as junior Jamie 
Marriott, who knows firsthand how the drug can affect someone she cares about.

"I know someone who does meth and I've seen what's happened. It's 
terrible that they suffer. They'll do anything for it," Marriot said. 
"It's good that (the speakers) let us know what the drug could do to 
you and the experience of it, before people try it for themselves."

Students were encouraged to attend the 2008 Washington State 
Prevention Summit in Yakima, Oct. 17 and 18.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom