Jane Emerick
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Think drugs can't happen to your straight-laced, straight-A student? Think again, says Lynn Marie Smith.
Smith, a recovering drug addict, spoke to parents Tuesday night (May 2) at a Youth Week event at Totem Hall about her experience of going from a straight 'A' student to a drug addict in only a short period of time. Her message to her listeners was clear: teach your kids life skills.
"It doesn't matter what your kid's grades are, how pretty they are, if they are the captain of the football team or whatever; kids need life skills," Smith said. "They need to know what they are going to say when someone offers them drugsbecause someone will."
Smith described how growing up in a small town, similar to Squamish, made her unaware of the effects of drugs. She also said she never discussed the issue with her parents during high school because both she and her parents, believed she wasn't at risk.
"I didn't know the consequences of using cocaine or heroine or ecstasy," she said.
"My first encounter with drugs was nothing like the movies where it happens in a dark alley. It was at a friend's apartment and the person who gave me the drugs was someone I knew and trusted."
Smith moved to New York after graduating high school in Pennsylvania to pursue an acting career. She said for the first time in her life she, a popular, outgoing girl, was full of self-doubt.
"I felt unsophisticated in New York and one night someone offered me a small pill with a smiley face on it and it changed my life."
From there she used drugs consistently for nearly a year until she found herself hallucinating and paranoid to the point she was sent to a psychiatric hospital. It was there she learnt the extent of the damage using drugs had caused her brain.
That was six years ago now Smith tours across America speaking to youth about the risks of using drugs. Her talk in Squamish was her first in Canada. She said her message is effective because she speaks to kids on their level.
"When I speak to kids I use truthfulness and honesty. I don't sugar coat it. I don't focus on how bad drugs are, I try to focus on how good life is."
Smith's said the parents in the room were already helping their children by being informed about drug use.
"You are here, you are doing something. You are working together as a community to educate each other," she said.
Students throughout the district also heard Smith speak on Wednesday and Thursday at Totem Hall where information and services about drug prevention and intervention were displayed as part of Youth Week.
"Tonight just didn't happen," were the words of event organizer David Hildreth as he introduced Smith. "This has been the combined effort of many people in town who have worked to bring Lynn here to the community and share her story during Youth Week."
