'Tool kit' arms parents with weapons to fight drug abuse

The "Crystal Darkness Parents Tool Kit," designed to help parents understand drug abuse and how to communicate with their children, was released by Partnership Carson City, Secret Witness and the Carson City Chamber of Commerce's Quality of Life Committee on Monday.

Phillip Harrison, chairman of the chamber's Quality of Life Committee, hosted the event. Guest speakers were Mayor Bob Crowell and Sheriff Ken Furlong.

On Jan. 9, 2007, a 30-minute documentary titled "Crystal Darkness," which chronicled the plights of many families in the area, aired simultaneously on almost all stations. Since then, said Tim Griffin with Secret Witness, 10 million people nationwide have viewed the homegrown video.

The tool kit is a follow-up to the Emmy Award-winning documentary, with over an hour of interviews with recovering meth addicts, law enforcement officials, doctors, dentists, school officials and prevention and recovery specialists.

Heliberto Llamas was at the event Monday as part of his orientation for parents at the Boys & Girls Club. Sitting with his three children, all members of the club, Llamas listened intently and watched a clip that showed grieving parents dealing with the aftermath of children whose deaths were indirectly attributed to meth abuse.

Afterward, he received his own DVD.

"I'm going to take this home to show my wife," he said. "I worry."

Ignacio Cervantes, 20, said he knows all too well the lure of gangs. He said he was headed down the wrong path as a teen but has since changed direction. At the orientation for his little brother, Cervantes said he watches him closely.

"It's really hard to stay away," said Cervantes. "I don't want him to go through the same trouble as I went through. It's not that my parents didn't care, but they were too busy with their jobs. They worked and just came home and made sure we were fed. And when they were at work, I was out and about making new friends."

Griffin said parents should take the time to sit down and view the video, then call in their children to watch the parts they find suitable and discuss what they learn.

He said the hope is that the video will give parents the information they need to talk with their children and understand the issue.

Beverly Eiswert, Chamber leadership coordinator, said 55,000 copies of the DVD will be sent home with high school and middle school students across Northern Nevada and in parts of Northern California.

"Communities can drug proof themselves pretty well with parent involvement," said Mayor Bob Crowell.

Copies of the DVD are available during business hours at the Chamber of Commerce, 1900 S. Carson St., Suite 200.