Speak Up

Melba High School had the opportunity to have the Idaho Meth Project to come to the school for a day and present to the students. As the students entered into the gym they all receive awareness pens, wristbands and temporary tattoos. The student council kids also worked as volunteers to help set up this assembly for the students. The student council were all wearing awareness t-shirt.
The presentation was given by Gina Heideman who is the executive director of the program, and Cyn Reneau who is a volunteer coordinator. The Idaho Meth Project has 352 volunteers to help with the program, many which are in recovery, or have used meth in the past. So they all understand what meth actually does so it’s easier to get the message across to the students.
Cyn Reneau was the main speaker of the assembly she began with telling her personal story about the trails and obstacles she was faced with when it comes to meth. She said that anyone can be faced with meth no matter who they are. She continued to say that some of the biggest influences in high school can grow up to be meth addicts. She stated that, “If you give into peer pressure in the halls you are placing yourself at risk to be a statistic.” She stressed the importance for standing up for yourself and what you believe in.
There are many harmful ingredients in meth such as; acetone, lithium, toluene, hydraulic acid, sulfuric acid and many more harmful chemicals. The chemicals used in making meth are also use in finger nail polish remover, batteries, brake fluid, rat poison, fertilizer and toilet bowl cleaner.
Once you start using meth the side effects can affect you for the rest of your life, even if you are not using anymore. Cyn Reneau explained how someone’s regular dopamine levels are between 60-80 but when using meth it can sometimes go higher than 1000. The more and more you use meth the lower your dopamine levels become when your off the drug. After off meth it can take between 1-7 years for your body to heal as much as it will. Reneau told that she used for only 100 days. At the end of the 100 days her dopamine level was 0. After six years it is still 0, she said she can’t laugh, she can’t cry, she doesn’t have any emotions anymore.
Meth is a very harmful drug that’s out there and real. 1 in 4 young adults know someone who is using meth. Meth is always going to leave lasting side effects in your life, and will hurt the ones who love you too. If you know anyone who needs help or if you are searching for help to stop using, call the Idaho Meth Project at 1-888-331-2060.