HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times-Advocate, 2002-11-27, Page 1416 Wednesday, November 27, 2002Exeter Times–Advocate
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Candidates’debate set for Dec.4
STATFORD – The six
candidates for the
Perth-Middlesex federal
Liberal nomination will
debate Dec. 4 at 7:30
p.m. at Northwestern
Secondary School in
Stratford.
The candidates, Rick
Horst, Brian Innes,
Adam Mair, Dan
Mathieson, Martin
Reitsma and Gerry
Teahen, will answer
written questions on
Liberal principles and
Canadian issues.
At the nomination
meeting Dec. 12, candi-
dates will only have 10
minutes to speak and
little time to meet all
1,000 voting delegates.
The nomination meet-
ing will be held in the
Coliseum at the
Stratford fair grounds
at 7 p.m.
Former drug addict talks
to South Huron students
By Scott Nixon
TIMES-ADVOCATE STAFF
EXETER — South Huron District
High School students got a lesson in
how experimenting with drugs can
destroy lives.
Recovered drug addict Julian
Madigan spoke to a packed gym at
the school Nov. 21, explaining how he
transformed from a star athlete into a
drug addict, a thief and a pusher in
just four years.
Before his drug use, Madigan had a
bedroom full of trophies and medals
for his athletic prowess. Growing up
in Ireland, he wanted to represent his
country at the Olympics in swimming.
But at 13, he started to smoke and
drink beer and at 14, started to
smoke pot after seeing friends do it.
Madigan said he started to feel
invincible when he realized the morn-
ing after smoking pot he felt fine. He
became a regular pot smoker and
noticed his circle of friends changing
when, at 15, he went to a rave and
saw what a great time everyone was
having on drugs. Soon, he was exper-
imenting with acid and for the next
year went to raves every weekend,
doing acid and pot.
In no time at all, Madigan’s rela-
tionships changed, his grades slipped
and he stopped playing sports.
Then came ecstasy, a drug whose
myth of fun and safety Madigan
wants to destroy. He said people have
died from one use of ecstasy and
compared taking an ecstasy pill to
playing Russian Roulette.
“Eventually, it will get you,” he said
of the drug which affects each person
differently, depending on their emo-
tional, physical and metabolical state.
Madigan started abusing ecstasy at
16. He admitted the first high a per-
son gets of ecstasy “is so amazing
you’ll never forget it,” but that expe-
rience can never be repeated. He
warned once a person starts taking
drugs, “you will eat, sleep and dream
about drugs . . . everything will fall
by the wayside.
“You will get screwed up, you will
get messed up and you will face con-
sequences,” he said, adding drugs are
about 10 per cent pleasure and 90
per cent consequences.
Madigan was spending $50 per
ecstasy pill and discovered his toler-
ance level increasing, which lead to
more drug use. He was spending
$200 a week on ecstasy but only
making $100. To make up for the
shortfall, he started selling his
clothes, robbing his grandmother’s
purse, stealing his father’s bank card
and finally, dealing drugs.
At 17, three years after first trying
drugs, Madigan said he had com-
pletely changed into a different per-
son.
When his grandmother died, he
couldn’t handle it and no longer
cared about anything. Soon his week-
ends became five days long and con-
sisted of dropping acid, ecstasy,
speed and snorting cocaine. Madigan
said he did so much cocaine on week-
ends that by Saturday night he’d be
walking around holding an ice cube
on his nose. He was spending $500 a
week on drugs and no longer getting
any pleasure from them.
After agreeing to see a counsellor,
whom he befriended, Madigan
stopped taking drugs for six weeks
but then started again and was up to
$1,000 a week to support his habit.
He said he started every morning by
snorting four lines of cocaine.
Madigan hit rock bottom one night
when he was physically attacked by
someone he owed money to. When he
went home and looked in the mirror,
Madigan said he finally saw how
awful he really looked and decided to
clean up his act.
The next day he confessed every-
thing to his father, who agreed to
help him. Madigan spent the next
three months getting off drugs and
never leaving home without a
guardian.
He said there are five steps a person
with a drug problem should undergo
to get clean:
• talk to someone about your prob-
lem;
• be honest with yourself;
• make a decision to quit;
• break away from your drug-using
friends;
• and fill the void by finding a
hobby.
Madigan said the hardest thing for a
recovering drug addict to do is for-
give themselves. He said he would
give anything to have 10 minutes
with his grandmother to apologize.
He added some of his former friends
have killed themselves and he has
permanent damage from his years of
drug abuse.
Now living in Canada, Madigan is
married and is a new father. He said
he’s got new friends and his relation-
ship with his family is great.
In 1996 Madigan published, ‘The
Agony of Ecstasy,’ which was on best-
seller lists in the UK. He tours across
Canada speaking to students and par-
ents about drug use.
Huron OPP officers have no new leads into a May 10 robbery at Darling’s
Foodland, so are asking for the public’s help in providing any information.
At 5:35 a.m. that day, three suspects entered the Exeter grocery store and filled
a green garbage can with various brands of cigarettes.
They were unsuccessful in opening a cigarette cabinet.
The suspects fled in a white 1996 two-door Mercury Cougar with Ontario
licence plate #559 YJK, heading east on Sanders St.
A white 1995 Ford Mustang with Ontario licence #AFTT 971 was also used in
the get-away.
If you have any information about this crime or any other, please call Crime
Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Crime Stoppers - Crime of the Week