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