Series: Part 9

SEEING RIGHT THROUGH CRYSTAL CLEAR MYTHOLOGY

HANOVER -- Beth (not her real name) rolls up her sleeves to expose
scar-ridden arms.

She leans to her right and pulls up her blouse to show more scars on her
thin torso. Then she shares the reality of a tweaker -- a person addicted
to crystal meth.

"You pick at your skin, and then the hole that you've picked fills with
blood," she says matter-of-factly. "To me, it looked like a big black bug
in my skin, so I would pick more."

She routinely used tweezers to get at the "bug," leaving wounds all over
her body.

"It's habit-forming, I do it all the time now," she adds.

Beth is a 30-something Hanover resident. "When I'm on it (crystal meth), I
can spend hours tweaking."

Tweaking refers to a common side effect of crystal meth: the user believes
that bugs are crawling under their skin and are driven to pick at the
"bugs." In reality, it is the damaged nerve endings that are irritating the
skin, giving a sensation that something is crawling on the skin.

"When I'm using (crystal meth) I have lots of projects to do around the
house, but nothing gets done," says Beth.

Beth says she realized that crystal meth is a very real problem in Grey and
Bruce counties from reading The Post's series, "Not My Kid." She doesn't
often leave the house, she says, especially when she's high, because she is
afraid that people will know that she's high.

An abuser of crystal meth for "four years straight" and occasionally before
that, Beth decided to volunteer to speak to The Post out of concern that a
growing number of teenagers are using the drug.

"It's always been an unwritten rule that you don't associate with people
under 25," she says of adults who use crystal meth and other drugs. "But
somehow we've lost that rule."

She reasons that adults who use crystal meth are "home bodies" who don't go
out much. "But when teens are on it, they're out doing stuff, they don't
sit around and talk (compared to adults)."

Her contention is that teenagers are more likely to get into trouble,
through crime or promiscuity, while using crystal meth.

Beth, an extremely thin woman who appears to weigh about 95 pounds, says
it's been about a month since she's used the drug. Yet during the interview
at the Hanover Police station, her hands shake, her movements are jerky and
she is unable to sit still. Her fingers graze her face, lightly picking at
fresh, red marks. "Never again," she says. "The last time I was
incarcerated, I knew I wouldn't do it again."

Beth has been in and out of jail for some time, on assault charges. "It was
the drug -- I wouldn't have done that otherwise," she insists. "I'm having
trouble dealing with my anger, controlling my emotions,"

Beth is a living billboard for what crystal meth will do to one's life,
body and well-being.

But what sets her apart is her university degree. When one sits down to
talk to her, it quickly becomes evident that she has a good education.

Her regret is also evident.

Until four years ago, Beth had a good job working with the public. It was
her boyfriend that led her to temptation, she says.

"I knew he was on drugs, but he got off crack and was doing well," she
says. "He tried to stay away from his friends, but then he started again."

Beth started because she needed to stay awake to work her shifts, she says.
She knew how the drug worked because she'd taken it in the past.

"I never thought I was hooked," she says. "You just sleep for five days to
a week, build up your immune system and live on energy."

She snorted, smoked or ate crystal meth daily, with no preference of one
over another. "When I did it, it was for a purpose," she says. "I didn't
party. I would do it so that I could get stuff done. But then I never got
anything done."

She says she didn't do drugs while at university, except to take "bennies"
- -- caffeine pills -- during exam time.

She also did speed when she was younger. And, she points out, there is a
distinct difference between speed and crystal meth.

"Speed is not a brain-altering drug," she says. "It keeps you awake, but
there's no hallucinating, no voices in your head, unless you're sleep
deprived."

As for crystal meth, "it screws your brain up. You hallucinate within the
hour (of taking it)," she describes. "It varies with people . . .
everyone's got their own buzz (it affects people differently)."

Still, her concern is for teenagers. Several months ago, when she was in
Walkerton buying crystal meth, Beth says, she saw teenage girls shooting up
the drug.

"I couldn't say anything, I just left," she says. "I wonder why and who
would give it to teens. Have they got no morals? If we (adults) do it, we
have consequences. But these people (teens) will suffer the rest of their
lives."

Beth has a teenage son, and is worried that he might try crystal meth or
other drugs. "I know all the signs (of a user) and I've told him he would
never get away with it," she says.

Local awareness about crystal meth is helping, she thinks. But programs are
needed to help those who are addicted.

"To get to help, you need a vehicle," she says.

Beth wants to give back to the community and help people, she says. "I
don't go out and purposely try to cause problems," she says. "But we're the
adults -- let's start acting like it."

She fantasizes about bringing a Narcotics Anonymous group to the area, to
help other people like her.

Asked what she would say to teenagers to convince them not to do crystal
meth or other drugs, she says, "If they could see me, I'd say, 'Look what
happens -- it takes away your looks, your personality . . . I'm an angry
person. You don't notice it's happening. (When you're using) you don't have
friends who love you or care about you -- they just want you when you're
high.' I would tell them, 'Don't do it.'"

She admits she's smart, but points out that she has trouble remembering
things, has difficulty thinking quickly and her ability to make quick,
logical decisions is affected.

"It's too much drugs killing my brain cells," she quips.

"It (crystal meth) doesn't make you think clearer (as some people say). I
call it 'crystal clear mythology.'"

[Sidebar]

When Beth talks about cooking crystal meth, her chemistry knowledge is
impressive.

She describes one popular recipe for Anhydrous Meth. "Everyone knows this
recipe," she says. "It's an easy recipe. There's nothing you can't get."

She adds, "I knew what went in it when I made it, but they're changing the
product, they keep changing the chemical structure. There are so many
different kinds out there (to buy) -- you don't know what you're getting
anymore. I took some once and it made me sick. They're not making it right,
they're mixing it wrong.

"When I make it, I know it's done properly."

The main ingredient is pseudoephedrine, a common over-the-counter drug for
colds.

She describes the process of breaking the drug up to separate the
ephedrine. From there, other ingredients include red phosphorous (the
striking line on a matchbook), iodine and anhydrous ammonia.

"The problem is that these people haven't taken chemistry, they don't know
what they're doing," she says, pointing out that a face mask is needed when
cooking crystal meth, and that the waste gets burned outside.

The recipe in her "cookbook," seized by police in a past raid, is for
"Anhydrous Meth for the Common Man." It describes in detail the process of
cooking one ounce of crystal meth. The recipe includes notes important to
the cook: A warning not to buy more than three boxes of pseudoephedrine
anywhere and, "avoid acetaminophen (for headaches) -- it will destroy your
batch."

Beth says to get pseudoephedrine in large qualities, she would hire four or
five teenage girls to shoplift the pills from pharmacies in a city. She'd
give them $25 or pay them with the final product.

The recipe calls for lithium batteries, lantern fuel, drain cleaner ("find
the bottle with the skull and cross bones on it"). And "this is the tricky
part, you have to have anhydrous ammonia."

Anhydrous ammonia is a fertilizer used by many farmers on their crops. A
popular ingredient in crystal meth, police across North America have been
raising awareness about the theft of the gas from farms.

The recipe details the step-by-step process of stealing anhydrous ammonia
("first get a friend to drop you off on a quiet country road, lie low for a
few minutes to make sure you haven't been seen," etc.).

Prescribed supplies for cooking the drug include mason jars, a pop bottle,
coffee filters, coolers, a hose from a vacuum at a car wash and "a safe
place where you won't get weirded out."