Pubdate: Sat, 25 Jan 2003
Source: Wausau Daily Herald (WI)
Copyright: 2003 Wausau Daily Herald
Contact:  http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1321
Author: David Paulsen

VIDEOS TARGET DANGERS OF METH USE

KRONENWETTER - A local media company is producing a pair of videos that 
police hope will help stem the spread of methamphetamine use in the region.

Producers planned this week to record interviews with two Marathon County 
Jail inmates, a man who is battling a serious meth addiction and a 
conservation warden who has expertise on the environmental impact of meth 
labs. They also have talked with a state narcotics agent and a Chippewa 
Falls doctor who treats addiction. The videos - one geared toward 
teenagers, the other toward adults - are due to be completed by the end of 
March and will be used in several ways, including to teach students about 
the dangers of meth and to train emergency personnel who respond to meth 
lab spills.

Susan Reetz of Rucinski & Reetz in Kronenwetter received $35,000 and the 
green light for the project in October when a $300,000 federal grant was 
secured by U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau. The grant was awarded to police 
in the region to combat meth labs. Reetz is coordinating the project with 
Don Byrne of the Post House, a communications company in Eau Claire.

"We've been working pretty hard, lining up our interviews, finding the 
right people with the right kind of stories that would impact our viewers 
and lead them to the decision that this is a pretty bad route to go," Reetz 
said.

Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant often associated with the youth 
rave culture. Meth "cookers" mix paint thinner, over-the-counter cold 
medicine, drain cleaner and other chemicals to create a white powder smoked 
by users. The ingredients are so dangerous that labs often are declared 
toxic waste dumps.

Reetz had planned for the videos to cover the rave drug ecstasy, as well, 
but the specialized grant and the prevalence of meth labs turned her focus 
solely on methamphetamine.

"We've seen a rise in meth labs in this whole area," said Marathon County 
Sheriff's Department Capt. Tom Kujawa, administrator of the Central Area 
Drug Enforcement Group. He applied for the federal grant to establish a 
regional police network focused on meth lab enforcement.

"Meth is not out of control in our community, but it's an issue and it's an 
issue for everyone," he said.

The broader effects include rising health insurance costs, loss in 
productivity at work and potential hazardous waste dumps in residential areas.

The solution is education, Reetz said, and producers are taking care to 
present the message so it is relevant to their audience. Also, they are 
talking to experts and addicts in north central and northwestern Wisconsin 
to keep the voices local.

Similar videos on gangs have won awards for Rucinski & Reetz, but Reetz 
said that after seeing the devastating effects meth use can have on an 
addict, awards aren't as important to her as encouraging young people not 
to use methamphetamine.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens