First you mix a little fertilizer and then add some methamphetamine to make sure you can affect the central nervous system in crazy highly-addictive ways. Then comes the cooking and adding of many other household chemicals that were never meant to be put into a human body.
Along with a rush comes browning, and often falling out, teeth. There is the pale thin face that looks about 20 years older than it is, and don't forget about the open oozing sores. Oh, that's right; there are also scabs across the body where users think the bugs are crawling. And if that isn't enough to entice, there is the possibility of jail time and as one former junkie said, "It will take away your life."
METH. It's cheap to make, it's scary, it's wrong and it is found in small towns across the nation. And as told by 29-year-old Crystal Winn and 23-year-old Carmen Pearson, who were brave enough to tell Belfield children during a Health Fair in late January, there are plenty of reasons not to touch the junk. They also showed that you can get straight.
For those young women to share their stories with the youngsters was courageous and they deserve accolades. They may have made some bad choices, and now sit in the clink, but that's what it took to be pulled from a drug-induced world. They see the errors of their ways and reached out to the students hoping to help them make good decisions.
Winn said there was a time when on meth she stayed up for 21 days and didn't eat for 14. The women also talked about their children, who are obviously no longer in their care.
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Long-term methamphetamine abuse has many negative consequences, and besides those mentioned above, include extreme weight loss, anxiety, confusion, insomnia, depression, brain damage and violent behavior. Paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations and delusions also come along with use.
There is some good news though. According to a 2007 Monitoring the Future Survey -- a national survey of eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders -- methamphetamine abuse among students has been declining in recent years.
Maybe it's because kids are seeing what really goes on in a user's life -- maybe it is thanks to women like Winn and Pearson.
Let's hope that if these children are ever in a situation where someone offers them this filth called meth, they recall these women's stories and think twice.
-- Editorial Board members meet weekly to discuss local issues. Members include The Dickinson Press Publisher Harvey Brock, Editor Jennifer McBride, Copy Editor Brandon Sieben and community member True White.
