FATHER-SON TEAM TELL STORY OF PRIVATE WAR WITH DRUGS

It's all about decisions, students told

Winnipeg high school student Darcy Shillingford says he'd never touch
ecstasy but he knows people who do.

"They say it's really good stuff. It makes you happy and feel good," said
the 14-year-old student from Kelvin High School in River Heights. "But I'd
never touch the stuff. It's just crap and I don't want to take the risk."

And that's the kind of response ecstasy survivor Julian Madigan and his
father Gerry would be proud to hear. The pair visited the school yesterday
as part of a 10-day tour of Winnipeg schools to share the story of Julian's
private war with drugs.

'NOT ABOUT SCARE-MONGERING'

"We're here not to preach to these kids or scare them. This is not about
scare-mongering. We're here to tell them it's all about making decisions,
decisions ultimately only they can make for themselves," the senior Madigan
said.

Four years ago, Julian's book The Agony of Ecstasy hit the stands. It tells
in a straightforward way how his descent into a drug culture threatened his
life and how he and his father, with a lot of help, saved it.

"I liked the way he told us his story and let us make up our own minds. I
think having it told to us by someone other than our parents or teachers
like this is good," student Emma Hauch, 14, said.

"I know some kids would have trouble telling their parents they were using
drugs like ecstasy. They'd shadow-out their parents. Julian's message shows
how wrong that decision can be," she said.

Hauch said when students take drugs they gain an instant group of friends
and "instant happiness."

"Julian's story tells us those gains come at a high price and a risk I don't
think I'm interested in taking," she said.

The Madigans emigrated from Ireland to Calgary a year ago. The senior
Madigan said Julian will stop telling his story in June 2001.

"It's just too exhausting. It's time to move on after years of doing this.
But I can say this, I know he's done some good and I think this exercise has
saved some lives."