FAIRFIELD — Finally, a photo showing a 21-year-old woman after a year on meth — the hair on her forehead barely a fuzz from being pulled out, her skin covered in sores — struck a chord with the students.

“Eeewwhh,” several groaned.

“That’s disgusting.”

Former Husker football coach and U.S. Congressman Tom Osborne went on to explain to the students gathered in the Sandy Creek High School gym Friday about the various chemicals used to make meth.

Anhydrous ammonia.

Lithium batteries.

Hydrochloric acid.

“You’re putting some really toxic stuff in your body,” he said. “I just want you to be alert to it and make sure you don’t start down this dead-end road.”

Osborne and famed screenwriting-teacher Lew Hunter, two longtime friends, spoke to students at Sandy Creek near Fairfield about the dangers of methamphetamine and other drugs.

A Sandy Creek graduate, Lonnie Senstock, invited the two to speak at the school, in part,  so he could film them talking about the dangers of drugs for a documentary Senstock is producing about Hunter’s life.

Senstock described Hunter as an inspiration, a former Hollywood power broker and University of California, Los Angeles, professor.

“One of my crusades in life is to help people be as good as they can be,” Hunter told the students.

To that end, he has worked to educate youth about the dangers of meth. An important fact for youth to understand is that meth is rarely the first drug anyone uses.

Usually, by the time they’ve progressed to using meth, they’ve tried alcohol and marijuana and have taken up a fast lifestyle that often includes unsafe sex.

As a result, he said, it’s important for young people to understand that by drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes they are taking the first steps on the path to meth.

He said it’s also important for young people to understand that meth is highly addictive.

“People cannot use meth once,” he said, “because they’re so happy when they use it the first time.”

That happiness is fleeting, however, he said.

True happiness, he said, comes from knowing you are loved by those around you and that you matter.

“You represent happiness,” he said. “You represent the future.

“You are loved.”

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.