The Weyburn Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (WECADA) hosted an abuse awareness presentation for students at the Weyburn Comp and Bridge schools on Thursday afternoon, with a special encore presentation for parents in the evening

Two recovering addicts, Melinda L. and Jim C., presented their stories to inform students, teachers and parents on the lifestyles of those who suffer from an addiction. "I never thought that I had a problem, or that I would be one of those people who I had heard in high school talk about their addiction," said Melinda. Her addiction started at the age of 12, after she got drunk the first time.

Due to an upbringing in an abusive home, she had a difficult time fitting in at school and felt better about herself when she drank. It was at the age of 13 that she started doing marijuana. Melinda then got very good at lying to her parents and her teachers as the addiction progressed. By the time she was 16, she started using LSD, dealing drugs as well as using them and got in a lot of trouble at school.

After high school graduation, Melinda dropped out of university to move to Calgary where she tried ecstasy for the first time and soon after she was using cocaine.

"All I wanted to do was drink and do drugs," Melinda said. Her drug abuse soon led her into being addicted to crystal meth. "It completely made me psychotic; the only thing I could think about was where I was going to get my next fix."

Then one day, "I finally had enough of the parties and feeling sick and tired all the time," said Melinda. "Something inside of me pulled me out of that place and I went into a rehab centre where I was able to completely turn around."

"Today I have been in recovery for three and a half years; it took me a lot of work to get to where I am but now I have a great life," said Melinda.

Jim then shared his story, starting at the age of 14 when he first got drunk and drank all through his teen years. Soon after leaving high school, he found new friends to party with and became a binge drinker.

"There was this one night that I had my boss take me to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, where they have a 20-question form that you had to answer honestly to see if you are an alcoholic. It was the first test I ever scored perfect on."

However he couldn't admit to his problem, so Jim soon associated with new people and tried marijuana, hash, speed, cocaine and mushrooms. By the age of 28 years, he was on the path of destruction.

That path led him to gambling and then cocaine. "There was a time that I put $80,000 worth of cocaine into my body, and I just couldn't stop my addiction."

Then in September of 1999 Jim just felt empty and that he had no joy left, after being an addict for 35 years. Jim said that it was then that he "prayed for help and have been clean since. I learned since then that I may have done a lot of bad things, but that didn't mean that I was a bad person. Addiction is a disease with no cure, though there is a way to be in recovery. We are here because we want you to know to not be afraid to call out for help, it is there."

Residents in the Weyburn area who are looking for help for themselves or family members, or who want more information on drug abuse and the effects of drug abuse, can call the addiction services of the Sun Country Health Region.