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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, October 8, 2009 · 4 Crystal meth leaves behind broken lives By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF It will take everything from you that you care about and leave you broken and alone. This sad conclusion was shown over and over again as crystal methamphetamine (not to be confused with Methadone) addicts told their stories during the video Death By Jib (slang for Meth), which was shown in Town Hall's South Atrium recently. The video was part of a presentation by Mark McLaughlin, executive director of the Crystal Meth Society of B.C., who became a crusader against crystal meth after one of his own We Do Housecalls! EVENT Oakville Denture Centre All-inclusive membership & co-ordinated family scheduling Join now! We build strong kids, strong families, strong communities. Bring this ad to the get and YMCA of Oakville ut Pass. a FREE Adult Worko 2009 s Oct. 21, Offer expire adult workout Limited to ONE free per year. pass per person children became an addict. His child is doing better now, he pointed out, but many others are not. "Many people get caught unaware by something like meth. They have no idea what's coming at them," said McLaughlin. "We believe they deserve the right to be warned." Crystal meth is a powerful illegal drug, which is made from various toxic household products. Appearing as white shards or powder, meth can be injected, snorted, smoked or even eaten with initial use giving the user a euphoric high along with intense energy. The drug is cheap, costing only $5 to $10 per dose for a high that can initially last as long as 14 hours. All this is a trap, McLaughlin noted, as meth is one of the most addictive and damaging drugs in existence. "At the exact same moment meth causes the brain to release a waterfall of feel-good chemistry, it is trashing the machinery that does that task. That is why what seemed like a cheap amount of money to pay to get high in the original introduction rapidly doubles, triples and quadruples in price because every time it is applied the machinery is getting stomped on more," said McLaughlin. "A person can never never get back to that original sensation because the machinery that delivers it is damaged and is being harmed. So that helps explain why dosage has to go up and up. That helps explain why frequency of use goes up and up and up." McLaughlin said when someone becomes addicted to meth, their central goal in life becomes the accumulation of more meth. All the money that person has will be spent on meth and,when the money is gone, they will pawn their possessions to get more money to buy the drug. When those resources are exhausted, things will start disappearing at the homes of family and friends, he said. The video showed just how far that downward spiral goes. "I'm real ashamed of a lot of the things I've done in order to get drugs. One of the things that I said I would never ever do was sell myself," said one woman, interviewed on the streets of Victoria. "You're supposed to make yourself priceless." At another point in the video, a woman named Kerry Jackson, whose son Ryan was addicted to meth, spoke about the time her son had called her crying, stating he had been offered $100 by an older man for oral sex. "He was crying while he was telling me about it and he wouldn't tell me that he did it, but I suspect that he did," said Jackson. "I think that's how he ended up Mark McLaughlin spending the last 10 months of his life, (he) was in and out of the hospital, up and down or on and off the drug. He tried to get himself clean, but just couldn't. The drug's pull was too strong." Ryan eventually jumped off a bridge in Vancouver. Many shown in the video could be seen twitching or rocking back and forth. McLaughlin later explained this was a result of long-term meth use. Other physical side affects of meth addiction could also be seen in the video with some of the speakers having no teeth, while other users had torn skin off parts of their arms thinking there were bugs underneath. Perhaps the most horrific image was of paramedics responding to one meth addict who appeared to be little more than a skeleton. McLaughlin explained meth suppresses the appetite to the extent that addicts can waste away. "Crystal meth is methamphetamine, a central nervous system stimulant. It speeds up a person's body, it speeds up a person's brain. It's like riding a car engine at 1,000 km-ph, hour after hour, week after week, month after month," said McLaughlin. "It's not that hard to figure out that eventually something has to burn out." McLaughlin said the mental side effects of using crystal meth are staggering. A slide displaying images of a crystal meth addict's brain showed the brain to be riddled with holes resulting in users experiencing para- noia and hallucinations. Crystal meth can also accelerate the onset of mental illness with one person in the video stating that his friend, a crystal meth user, now firmly believes he is a member of the KGB. In another scary twist, McLaughlin noted, some people may be exposed to crystal meth without even realizing it as drug dealers sometimes cut ecstasy and cocaine with crystal meth to increase the potency and addiction levels. The lacing of marijuana with this drug has also proven to be a problem in British Columbia. McLaughlin said meth addicts will steal to feed their habit driving up crime and insurance rates -- and the clandestine labs that make crystal meth are a colossal safety hazard given the toxic nature of the product they create. "Crystal meth labs generate five kilograms of toxic waste for every kilogram of the street drug that is produced," said McLaughlin. "That toxic waste is thrown over someone's back fence, maybe yours, or strewn through a park or a playground where you or someone you know may visit or dumped in a lake or a lagoon or a river polluting the environment. Out West we've had situations where entire neighbourhoods have been taped off because dump sites have been found of waste products from meth labs." McLaughlin noted these meth labs frequently explode or catch fire due to chemicals inside. He said when fire departments realize a meth lab is burning they usually step back and let the building burn as there is a great risk to the health of firefighters if they get too close to the blaze. Halton police note that while crystal meth is present in Halton, it is not nearly as widespread as it is in British Columbia. McLaughlin is hoping that through educational presentations like his, it never will be.