Cyn Reneau was a Boise police officer for 12 years. The first man she dated after her divorce convinced her to try meth.
She said she had never heard of the drug, but after trying it, meth consumed her life. In two weeks, she went from smoking meth to injecting it with a needle.
Throughout the course of 100 days, she became a dealer, smuggled the drug into prison and watched people overdose. Then she went to jail.
“I was a former cop and still got caught,” Reneau said.
Now, she is a volunteer coordinator for the Idaho Meth Project, which educates Idaho communities about the dangers of meth.
Reneau and IMP’s Executive Director Gina Heideman recently toured Latah County schools, educating high school and middle school students.
“No matter where you are in Idaho, the drug is prevalent,” Heideman said.
They used IMP’s newly redesigned website, methproject.org. It has videos, facts and interactive features to teach teens about meth.
Heideman said the Idaho Meth Project used input from teenagers to design a site that would attract the demographic.
The website has Facebook integration, which allows visitors to share videos and other features. Reneau said she appreciates this ability as a mother.
Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and his wife brought the Meth Project to Idaho, Heideman said. It is modeled after the project in Montana.
Heideman said the Idaho Meth Project uses media campaigns, outreach programs and public policy lobbying to stop the drug in Idaho.
Billboards about behaviors that are normal, and behaviors that are normal only on meth dot the state.
Television ads with similar messages are common too.
Teenage volunteers across Idaho also coordinate for peer-to-peer outreach. Heideman said it’s about helping young people help each other.
While meth is found in communities statewide, Heideman said it hits harder in rural areas because there is less to do.
More importantly, ingredients for meth are more readily available in rural areas, Heideman said. Some chemical fertilizers used on farms contain key chemicals used in meth production.
Reneau said the target age group for the Meth Project is 12 to 17, but the secondary target is 18 to 24.
Heideman said college students aren’t out of the woods when it comes to meth. Reneau said she was 40 years old the first time she tried it.
Ecstasy and marijuana are more popular with college students, but they can also be laced with meth and other harder drugs Heideman said.
She said dealers would say just about anything to get people to buy more.
“It’s all about me supporting my habit,” Reneau said.
Sometimes, she said they would go to parties and hand out free samples, knowing that at least a couple of people would become customers.
Another hazard, according to Reneau, is the loss of inhibition that comes with drinking at parties.
She said most people in their right mind would never try meth.
“But when you’re eight beers in, you’ll make worse decisions,” Reneau said.
Heideman said the group’s focus has been high schools and middle schools, but they are willing to speak to college classes and campus groups.
“We’ll talk to anybody who’ll talk to us,” Heideman said.
Kasen Christensen can be reached at [email protected]