More than 300 people community-wide listened intently Tuesday night to a panel of experts tell how methamphetamine transformed their lives.
The third meth workshop in a series put on by the Meth Awareness Partnership at Center Lake Pavillion was deemed a success as many people were informed on how meth is taking over the community one person at a time.
Rich Haddad, the director of the K21 Foundation, was the master of ceremonies for the night. Before the panelists began telling stories about how meth took over their lives, Haddad let everyone in the jam-packed audience know a little about meth.
“The key to solving this problem is bringing everyone together,” Haddad said. “Meth is a disease, a cancer in our community. Tonight we will take a different angle and talk about the human impact that meth has. It goes way beyond the addict.”
First speaker was Kelsey Long, 22, of Warsaw. Kelsey told the crowd that she was convicted of manufacturing meth in 2010, but her struggle with meth began when she was 16. “I started to drink and then I did other drugs and by the time I was 18 I was hooked on meth,” Long said. “Meth isn't for just low- income people.” Long continued to speak about how meth affected her life and during that time she had a message for the parents of meth addicts.
“Watch for warning signs,” Long said. “I would sleep all day and stay out all night. Don't think that it's not going to be that bad or that its not going to be my kid. It is easy to get and use and if you want to do it you can do it.”
While Long was in jail she began to think about why she was there and what her place in society was.
“I thought to myself this isn't where I belong,” Long said. “Everything meth gave me, recovery gave me 10 times more.”
Once Long finished her story the crowd stood and erupted in applause.
The panel was not just made up of addicts, but a parent, too. Susan Estes is the mother of former meth addict Ryan Yarian and her testimony was all about how meth goes far beyond the addict to affect the family as well.
“One day I woke up and saw something was wrong,” Estes said. “My kids were short tempered, irritable, there were chunks of foil missing from the kitchen, I found foil in their bedrooms and things went downhill fast.”
Estes explained that when her son was arrested, his brother also was arrested shortly after.
Estes works for Dekalb County at the courthouse in Auburn. She had a working relationship with law enforcement and her sons were arrested by the people she worked with.
By the time it took Yarian to get into rehab seven months had passed.
“When I left him at the Serenity House it was almost as bad as leaving him in jail,” Estes said. “It's an addiction and a disease.”
Estes continues to write letters to Yarian's friends who are in prison for meth. She does it to give them hope and let them know someone is there for them. She is even planning to take one of Ryan's friends kid to visit their mother in prison. It will be the first time in three years the friend will see his mother.
Yarian was a plant manager at a factory near his home in Auburn. He earned six figures, but he gave it all up for meth.
“Meth does not discriminate,” Yarian said. “My father died and I wanted to replace my loss with something tangible. I still remember the first day I tried meth, April 23, 2002. I had a choice between cocaine or meth. The first time I tried it I had a euphoric high for 12 to 14 hours. Nothing could compare to that buzz.”
While Yarian was at work he began to crave meth and it soon took over his life.
“I thought while I was at work, why was I working, it's stopping me from getting high,” Yarian said. “I could stay at home and get high all day and cook meth and make more than I did at the time. So I ran kilos of meth across northeast Indiana. It took over my life and I didn't see some of my family members for five years. It truly dominated my life.”
Once meth had a hold on Yarian's life he began to do whatever it took to get meth.
“I used anyone and everyone to get what I needed,” Yarian said. “The only way to fix this problem is to make psuedoephedrine a prescription. Unite as one voice and let the Indiana Senate know.”
Yarian faced 137 years in prison, but made a deal with the court and prosecuting attorneys. He has been in rehabilitation for more than two years and currently is a production manager at a factory.
“I was very fearful, that I wouldn't find employment,” Yarian said. “A company gave me a chance. They didn't know my background or where I had worked but they gave me a chance.”
One of the keys to recovery is hitting rock bottom Yarian said.
“It took me losing everything I had to realize what happened,” Yarian said. “I had no self respect. Since I was convicted I have been blessed with a number of wonderful people in my life. It has been a joyous ride. I now have just as much in life as I did before meth.”
Rebecca Kubacki, the representative for district 22, was on hand and let the audience know how she felt about meth.
“I tried to get psuedoephedrine to be a schedule drug, but it did not pass,” Kubacki said. “I feel that there are so many things that can be a first time, kids, marriage, but a first time should not be meth.”
Kubacki will continue to fight for the bill and her constituents.
“I will resurrect the bill,” Kubacki said. “A lot of the representatives said our district’s not affected by it. But our's is. I will keep pounding away at it not letting it fall through the cracks.”
