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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, May 20, 2010 · 4 MATTRESS BLOWOUT! EXTENDED SALE ENDS SUN. MAY 23 5 PM Don't start and you don't have to quit says former addict By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF SINGLE MATTRESS $ SET $269 179 COMFORT SLEEP 10 Year Warranty SLEEP FACTORY Double Mattress Queen Mattress King Mattress 209 289 419 Set Set Set 319 399 599 SLEEP FACTORY $ 129 $ 299 CUSHION TOP Double 239 Set Queen 259 Set King 389 Set 369 419 639 10 Year Warranty Single Mattress $ Set 299 199 SLEEP FACTORY Individually Wrapped Pocket Coil $ 179 $ 249 ORTHOPRACTIC POCKET COIL Double 359 Set Queen 419 Set King 569 Set 519 599 859 15 Year Warranty Single Mattress $ Set 429 289 SLEEP FACTORY $ 159 $ 299 DELUXE EURO TOP Double 399 Set Queen 469 Set King 659 Set 619 699 1059 15 Year Warranty Single Mattress $ 349 Set 559 SLEEP FACTORY $ 129 $ 289 PRESIDENTIAL PRESIDENTIA SI N AL LAT LATEX POCKET OI LATEX POCKET COIL AT 699 799 1099 15+ Year Warranty Single Mattress $ QUILTED-POLY PILLOW 649 DELUXE MATTRESS PAD $ 699 Double 499 Set Queen 579 Set King 739 Set $ 399 Set 589 MEMORY FOAM HEALTH GUARD PROTECTOR PROTECT-A-BED QUILT GUARD Standard 9 Queen 12 King 19 Standard Pillow Queen Pillow 29 39 Twin Queen 25 Double 39 King 34 49 Twin Queen 39 Double 59 King 49 69 Twin Queen 49 Double 69 King 59 79 Twin 109 Double 129 Queen 149 King 179 · MIL TON · 6435 Erin Mills Pkwy. y MISSISSAUGA/ETOBICOKE 2200 Dundas Street East MISSISSAUGA 238 Main St. E. (at Martin St.) Next to Scotiabank 905-878-4606 BRAMPTON 905-542-0481 Next to Moore's Suit People in the Battleford Centre 160 Main Street Behind Shoppers Drugmart & Beer Store 905-453-9760 0 905-270-4112 The best way to kick a drug habit is to never start, according to an anti-drug crusader speaking to parents in Oakville last week. Paul Christie of St. Catharines, has spent much of his life doing drugs, drinking alcohol and finding ways to get those substances to get him high, no matter the cost. It has led to multiple stays in correctional institutes and several suicide attempts. Despite being clean for nearly 11 years now, he will tell you he is still an addict and that just one drink, which is very easy to get, would send him right back to his vice. That's why he speaks to students and their parents with a message that it is easier to stay off drugs if you never take the first step. He brought that message to White Oaks Secondary School Wednesday, May 12. "It's a battle and it's not like a drink is that far away," he said. "Doing this (speaking publicly) keeps me clean and sober." The event was free and one of many stops for Christie, including several other Halton schools, last week. He told a small gathering in the school's auditorium that marijuana is everywhere and in every school with some 25-30 per cent of children using it. He added use of OxyContin is on the rise with youths today with a great number of children hooked on OxyContin, Percocet and Tylenol 3. To deter children from trying drugs, such as marijuana, he spoke of his life as an example of what drugs can lead to. He said marijuana is a gateway into harder drugs. Christie began smoking cigarettes and pot when he was in elementary school. "By Grade 8 I was bringing syringes to school," he added. At age 15, he and his friends went to a house party in a beach neighbourhood. They got drunk and broke into a couple of houses, each worth several million dollars. While they perused the inside of one home it caught fire. The youths went out onto the beach and watched several homes burn to the ground. It was only the next day when he sobered up that he realized the scope of his actions. He pretended as though he knew nothing about the incident while police questioned people at his school. Christie said police arrested him a year and a half later. He was sent to an Ontario correctional institute and later transferred to the now-closed Guelph Correctional Centre. He said there was a way to get drugs smuggled in and he told his parents he needed money for protection. So every other week his parents snuck money to him, which he used for drugs. When he got out of prison he began robbing businesses to get money for drugs. "I had a good job as a mechanic making $300 a week, at the time, but I was spending $1,000 on heroine," he said. He ended up in prison again after robbing a nightclub. When he got out he went to California where he began robbing again. He would go through dumpsters behind fast food restaurants eating unfinished food. "I didn't care. If I had $50 in my pocket, I'd rather have 50 bucks for crack," he said. He got caught robbing and was sentenced to three years. In that time he was moved to nine Paul Christie correctional facilities. When he got out he was sent back to Canada on an outstanding arrest warrant for robbery. However, the Canadian judge let Christie's charges off as long as he went into rehab. "This judge was the best man I've ever met my entire life," he said. But instead of rehab, Christie went to a crack house. Then he met a girl. They had a child together and got married. His parents bought them a house and truck and he got a steady job again. `I was a terrible drug addict. I couldn't keep needles out of my arms," he said. When his son was only six months old, Christie was left alone with the child and was shooting up while the baby cried. His wife left him. His parents kicked him out of the house and sold it. He was allowed to see his son on the weekends every other week, by the courts. The boy's mother was unable to afford to buy new clothes for the boy. "I let this kid go home with holes in his shoes in the winter. I had money in my pocket, but I had to get drugs," he said. "By 1998 most of my friends committed suicide. They were dead," he said. "I knew why they did it. They were tired of waking up knowing they had to get drugs." When his son was a few years old, Christie was to have him for four days for Christmas. Before the boy got to his house, his drug dealer came over and threw a bag of cocaine on his table. He figured he could just snort one line, but when he did, he went straight for the heroine. He locked himself in the bathroom and left his front door opened and told his ex-wife to take the presents. He was in such a bad shape the veins in his arms were shot. "It was so bad. I couldn't talk to anybody. I was shooting needles in my neck, in my jugular, and my head. It was just bad," he said. After that he tried to kill himself several times. After another failed attempt, he said, "When I got up I saw myself in the mirror for the first time after 20 years. It wasn't me," he said. As he looked in the mirror, he realized God saved him and he decided not to do drugs again. He checked into a detoxification centre in St. Catharines and hasn't done drugs since. "My son lives with me today. It's the biggest reward in my life," he said. "One of the things you have to do is keep the lines of communications open with your kids. It's difficult as parents, but you have to have tough love and you have to fight it."