Pubdate: Mon, 15 Jun 2009
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531

ADDICTION HAS NO SYMPATHY

Shaun Jones was selling cocaine for Kelowna's queen of the drug trade 
when he had to place his hand on a red-hot stove element.

He entered her kitchen to find a group of thugs standing next to the 
stove. Eighty dollars worth of coke was missing, and they accused 
Jones of stealing it.

They gave him a choice - put his hand on the burning-hot element or 
get stabbed in his side. He touched the fiery coil with his open palm 
and pulled it away. For his boss and accusers, that was not good enough.

"They held my hand on the burner. I smelled the burning flesh. My 
hand ballooned up. Later, they found the missing coke. I kept working 
for her," he said.

Jones, 41, has been clean since late 2005, when he entered detox. 
Later, he joined a 12-month Teen Challenge recovery program. Now 
married, he has shared his story with nearly 5,000 Central Okanagan 
students. His message - dealers don't care about you, they just want 
your money.

"They'd sell their girlfriend for a debt," he told 20 Grade 10 
students at Rutland Senior Secondary last week. "You become 
cold-hearted. I worked on a grow op in Surrey and sprayed the plants 
with crystal meth to get you addicted."

Jones was sexually abused as a child, but it took him 30 years to 
talk about it. He started smoking pot in Grade 7. At age 15, he 
caught his older brother sticking a needle into his arm. His pot use 
and drinking escalated to the point he was kicked out of three school 
counties in Ontario.

His good friends drifted away.

Jones held up his first gas station at 17 to impress his brother. He 
attempted suicide. He became a heroin junkie. He spent time in a 
psychiatric ward. Police arrested him for stripping outside City Hall.

Drug dealers shot and dismembered one friend, Jody Elliott. Another 
buddy was stabbed in a park over $40. He went for help holding in his insides.

"Do you think he knew that would happen when he started using drugs?" 
Jones asked the students.

"Dealers don't care. You'll rip off your family. They'll lose trust 
in you. The only ones who like you are the ones (using drugs), too. 
The drug has you under control. You don't control the drug."

Two younger recovering addicts also spoke to the class. Justin 
Webster, 19, drank heavily, smoked pot and dropped out of school in 
Grade 10. He became hooked on cocaine and crack. He joined a recovery 
program after spending time behind bars for robbery.

"Summer's coming, so you'll be drinking and partying," Wester told 
the class. "These decisions will affect you the rest of your life."

Mark Dekoning, 25, was a gambling addict and nearly died from drug 
use. Friends were killed in car crashes. Others overdosed and are now 
"vegetables," he said. He has since graduated from a recovery program.

Girls have a harder time kicking their habits because men enable them 
to continue using drugs, Dekoning said.

"When guys are down and out, they're alone. Girls can find other men. 
There are way more men's recovery centres than women's."

Students who listened to the hour-long presentation say they got the 
message. Krista, 16, knows "quite a few" people who smoke marijuana 
and have moved on to ecstasy, cocaine and magic mushrooms.

"I used to be friends with a lot of people. It seems some old friends 
have taken their own paths and are doing other drugs," she said. "I 
don't associate with them anymore."

Steph, also 16, has friends who smoke pot and drink regularly.

"This talk made me realize bad stuff could happen to them," she said. 
"They say they'll stop but it could lead to other drugs."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom