Pubdate: Thu, 01 Sep 2005 Source: Missoulian (MT) Copyright: 2005 Missoulian Contact: http://www.missoulian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/720 Note: Only prints letters from within its print circulation area Author: Tristan Scott Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) ADS SHOW TEENS UGLY SIDE OF METH A statewide anti-methamphetamine campaign was unveiled Wednesday, launching a series of shocking, graphic radio and television spots that directly target Montana teens. The Montana Meth Project has one mantra - "Not Even Once" - which centers on the drug's addictive power. According to research, a person can become addicted to meth after using it to get high just one time. The $5.6-million effort to quash teen addiction has garnered wide support from state officials, who gathered at the Missoula County Public Schools Administration Building on Wednesday. The Montana Meth Project is set to run for two years and will be the largest scale and longest-running campaign of its kind in history, said Tom Siebel, the campaign's chairman. Siebel said the ads are hard-hitting, raw and honest, and he expects them to get results. "There are people in Montana that would prefer if we didn't show this, who would rather believe that this isn't happening," Siebel said after showing a graphic ad featuring a meth-addicted teenage girl. "This message would be very difficult to deliver by a public agency. The good news is, we're not a public agency." Siebel spoke to the stunned audience just after showing a number of 30-second radio and television spots. The radio spots feature Montana teens from Missoula, St. Regis, Browning and Victor who discuss their addictions in honest detail. The teens discuss their struggle with meth, at times going into gruesome detail about their hair falling out, their gums turning brown and selling their bodies in exchange for drugs. Their ages vary from 12 to 17. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., championed the campaign as the strongest preventative measure against drugs Montana has ever seen. "Tom Siebel has hit on the head what no public agency has figured out," Rehberg said. "These are preventative measures, and they are building a more secure future for Montana." Siebel, a software executive and part-time Montana resident, founded the Montana Meth Project in February. The campaign's first groundswell occurred in August, when the Montana Meth Use and Attitudes Survey collected information from more than 1,200 respondents in Montana. The survey found that 45 percent of Montana teenagers ages 12 to 17 report that meth is readily available, second only to marijuana. Montana ranks in the top quartile of all states for meth abuse, outranking 39 states. The first wave of television, radio and print advertising is scheduled to be launched Sept. 1. In November, movie theaters will begin showing anti-meth commercials. The Montana Meth Project will continue its advertising campaign through December 2006, and will monitor its progress with three more surveys. The advertising value alone is $3.2 million, $1.6 million of which is donated. The project is funded by the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation. Siebel is the chairman of Siebel Systems, a software company in California. The couple own two ranches near Wolf Point and Grass Range. - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman