Warren Central students watched, wide-eyed and silently, as David Parnell, whose face was disfigured in a suicide attempt, shared photos that detailed his life as a methamphetamine addict.

Parnell, from Martin, Tenn., travels across the country talking about his days as an addict and the dangers of drugs, a program introduced to the students by Circuit Court Judge Frank Vollor as “one of the most important talks or lectures of their lives.”

“About 90 percent of all the crimes we handle involve drugs,” said Vollor. “It’s not just selling or having drugs; murder, grand larceny… so much is drug-fueled.”

Sharing the information is something Parnell said he decided to do six days after he lived through his second suicide attempt.

“I remember waking up in the hospital,” said Parnell. “My wife was there saying she loved me and she also told me that, during the two days I had been unconscious, she found out she was pregnant with our seventh child. Later I wrote in a notebook and showed to my wife that I wanted to share the truth about drugs.”

Parnell said he began smoking marijuana with his father when he was 13 years old. He does not blame his drug problem on his father, who died in May after using methamphetamine for 20 years.

“He shouldn’t have given me the dope, but God gives us all free will,” Parnell said. “I didn’t have to take it. I never dreamed when I was 13 smoking that first joint that I’d end up trying to kill myself years later. Drugs rob us.”

In his late teens he was introduced to meth, or “crank,” as he called it, by a group of friends. Meth is a highly addictive drug that affects the central nervous system and can be found in a variety of colors and consistencies. The drug increases the release of very high levels of the brain chemical dopamine.

Parnell said he was hooked on “crank” the first time he tried it, and his life began a downward spiral that resulted in prison time, the abuse of his wife and children and the two attempts to end his own life.

“During one fight with my wife I pulled a gun out from under the bed and put it to her head,” said Parnell. “Meth robs users of love and compassion, and it makes them paranoid. The reason we had that gun is because I convinced my wife to buy it because I thought other dealers were going to come steal what I had.”

Parnell said his children also suffered.

“Meth is a very powerful drug on the human mind and people do things on this drug they never dreamed of doing,” said Parnell. “About 35 percent of houses raided for meth have children in them. The child abuse is the worst part. They are the silent victims.”

Among the side effects of the drug are visions of “shadow people” and hearing disembodied voices. Parnell said he eventually became used to voices, but one in particular spoke to him until he listened.

“That voice told me my wife and kids and the world would be better off without me,’ said Parnell. “It said, ‘Do you really think Jesus will forgive you?’ I decided it was right and went into the barn and hung myself. The rope broke and my sister found me unconscious. I cleaned my life up for a while, but three years later I put a gun to my chin and shot myself.”  His face still shows the evidence of the second attempt.

Because meth is a stimulant that often keeps users up for days and weeks at a time, Parnell, who was high on the drug when he shot himself, did not lose consciousness immediately.

 “I think if the way I look might help a young person then my looks are a gift from God,” Parnell said.

Parnell’s program is graphic, including photos of people who have blown themselves up in meth-lab accidents, photos of abused children, photos of harmful effects of the drug on the body and photos of himself after he shot himself.

“People say, ‘Oh you’re just trying to scare people,’” Parnell said. He doesn’t disagree. “Meth is something to be scared of,” he said.

The U.S. Department of Justice reports that as many as 15 percent of all meth lab busts follow explosions and fires. The “cooking” process requires the use of solvents and high temperatures.

In the past month in Warren County at least three people have been hospitalized due to meth explosions and at least three other people have been arrested on meth- related charges.

Parnell also presented his program Tuesday night at the Warren County Drug Court, a program that allows people accused of felonies to admit addiction, undergo treatment and be repeatedly tested in order to avoid prison time.

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Contact Megan Holland at mholland@vicksburgpost.com.