9781422270561

ADDICTED TO METHAMPHETAMINE AT AGE 15

Growing up in rural Montana, the last thing that Carren Clem expected to become was a drug addict. She was the daughter of a police officer and knew that drugs were bad and dangerous. She performed well academically, attended church, and had hobbies such as playing the violin and riding and taking care of her pony. But as she grew older, she started getting teased and excluded by other girls at school. To fit in, Carren started attending parties with older boys. One day at a party, an older boy raped her. Due to the trauma of this crime, Carren’s school performance suffered, and she eventually was kicked out of school. Taking a job as a telemarketer, she began to hang out with a group of coworkers who enjoyed partying. When she told one of her coworkers she felt tired one day, they offered her a “pick-me-up.” It turned out to be methamphetamine. Carren immediately began using the drug more. Carren smoked meth all weekend. “The high was so unbelievable,” Carren said in a first-person account at Webmd.com. “I felt like Superwoman.” After only a week of use, Carren was smoking meth four or five times a day. In only a month, she argued so much with her family that she had to move out of her house.

8

The Young Adult Drug Library: Methamphetamine