HOMER - Carl Campbell seems to be the picture of good health.

Deeply tanned from working outdoors, muscular, with a nearly constant smile, one would never peg him as a man who has just kicked a methamphetamine habit.

Campbell, 35, began turning away from the highly addictive powder a couple of years ago while serving time in Douglas County Jail.

There is a photograph he keeps on a table in his trailer on the edge of the small town of Homer that reminds him of why he was able to stop a habit many struggle with for decades.

It is a picture of his three young daughters, taken about the time he started using meth.

While psychologists and addiction specialists formulate a variety of new ways and drugs to help addicts kick meth, one of the most addictive substances available, Campbell stumbled upon his own solution.

"The turning point, more than anything, was going to jail, and I didn't want my kids to see me in jail," he said, his voice heavy with emotion. "When they came and seen me, and I seen how they felt, that made me change right there.

"At first, I wouldn't let them come for a long time. I didn't want to let them see me, but I decided to let them make the decision."

When his daughters, then about 9 to 14 years old, saw him in jail, their tears flowed.

"It was rough," he said, adding that his parents also were upset. "That made me just say: Enough was enough."

Campbell, a skilled bricklayer with ZAB's Masonry, also credits Douglas County Sheriff Charlie McGrew with helping him get straight and stay that way.

"Charlie McGrew helped me more than anything else," Campbell said. "He would take me into his office and sit and talk. He asked me about the meth."

McGrew also asked him to participate in a video project, interviews with meth addicts that could be used to educate others about the drug.

Campbell agreed to be interviewed for the video, which is available for rental from the Douglas County Sheriff's Office.

"I thought it would be a good idea," Cambell said. "Because meth took everything from me. It took all of it."

McGrew said most of the people who are incarcerated on meth-related offenses can't wait to be reunited with the drug that is destroying them.

"Most return to meth very quickly after they are released," the sheriff said. "I would say Carl was an exception to the people who come through the system."

McGrew said he and other jail staff members will do all they can to help someone who genuinely wants to kick meth, but there is nothing they can do to help if the addict still wants the drug.

"Most of the people we see don't have the will or desire to help themselves," McGrew said.

Campbell was arrested in October 2004 in Champaign County and charged with the manufacture of methamphetamine. After serving 60 days, he was sentenced to four years of probation, receiving a light sentence because he had no prior drug convictions.

Shortly after his release from Champaign County Jail, he was arrested in Douglas County, where he served a four-month term for DUI and driving with a suspended license.

That is where his daughters visited him.

McGrew said he thinks that was a turning point for Campbell.

"One of the biggest parts of it, they've got to make a commitment to themselves. They need family support and rehabilitation support."

After his release from Douglas County Jail, he spent about five months in drug rehabilitation at Champaign's Prairie Center.

"That helped me a lot," Campbell said, adding the counselors worked hard to help him. "But most of all, you've got to want to do it yourself. When I got out, I could have gone back to it. You can tell that a lot of the people in Prairie Center, when they get out, they're just going to go back."

Campbell said he began smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol when he was 14 and continued to abuse drugs until his arrest 20 months ago. He started using meth about two years before his arrest, manufacturing it to support his habit for one year.

While he was in jail, his meth friends stole everything he owned out of his home.

Campbell said he started using meth at parties. He enjoyed the way it made him stay up all night, so he wouldn't miss anything.

"You just like the feeling," he said. "I liked the taste of it, too. The taste of it was like sweet. You could do anything. If you had things to do, you got it done.

"You're up all night doing it. You're constantly doing something. You'd have a million things going. You couldn't sit still. You can't eat. You'd shove food in your mouth and it wouldn't go down."

The former high school football player who normally weighed about 200 pounds lost about 40 pounds on meth. His teeth rotted; two had to be pulled.

He still suffers from stomach pains and sleepless nights from snorting and eating meth, which he made from a long list of poisonous substances, including lithium from batteries, lantern fluid and anhydrous ammonia.

"It's eating your teeth," he said. "It's just eating the inside of you out."

Campbell said he wants to tell his story because parents need to know what meth can do to their children.

"Their kids can fall into it just this quick," he said, snapping his fingers. "I don't want my kids to do it."

McGrew said Campbell's willingness to talk about his addiction demonstrates his commitment to keeping himself straight.

Campbell doesn't have custody of his children, but does spend time with them.

"He's trying to do all he can to stay clean," McGrew said. "I think this is part of his commitment to himself and his children.

"I thought when we let Carl out, I thought he had a chance to make it. Of all the people we have seen come through, I thought Carl had the best chance to make it. I still feel that way."

Huey Freeman can be reached at hfreeman@herald-review.com or 421-6985.