Drug and alcohol addiction and abuse. Recognition. Prevention. Treatment
20/20 Parenting. Recognizing and mitigating early vulnerabilities and risk factors.
Kerry’s Journal
May 25, 2005:
Since my son, Ryan, used to love to dance at the raves, I have always wondered what they were like...are the legal ones really safe? Could this be where he began to use crystal meth, knowingly or unknowingly? Well, on May 21st, I finally went to one myself...to a legal Rave in Vancouver, BC!
There were about 2,000 young people there. The RCMP (who invited me to join them) estimated that about 60% of them were high on Ecstasy (in spite of searching every one on entry). The last lab tests done on confiscated tablets of Ecstasy revealed that 68% were laced with crystal meth! This figure continues to rise. It was painful to watch them all having such a great time while so many having little to no idea what they were actually under the influence of.
I had the great privilege of talking with 2 boys, 16 and 19, and 2 girls, approx. 15 or 16. All had taken Ecstasy earlier, none had any idea that it might have had meth in it. None had any idea of the other ways they could take it without knowing it (spiked food, drink, date rape drugging) or of the kind of damage it can do (mental illness, sexual exploitation [same-sex for boys] or jail due to criminal activity, death by overdose or suicide). By the time I had come to the end of my son’s story they were swearing they’ll never do it again, thanking me and hugging me for warning them, one with tears in her eyes and brushing the tears from my own. I asked them to tell all of their friends. I am sure they will.
I hope some of you you will look for ways to serve your community, to inform our youth of the dangers of ecstasy and crystal meth.* I would love to hear about any such activity you initiate. We can learn a lot from each other; we can help each other to heal too.
All my hopes and cares for your futures,
Kerry Jackson
