Pubdate: Thu, 20 Oct 2005
Source: Windsor Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 The Windsor Star
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/windsor/windsorstar/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501
Note: from Star News Services
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

COMMERCIAL OFFERS GRIM GLIMPSE OF CRYSTAL METH

CALGARY - A TV commercial depicting crystal meth users vomiting, fighting 
and breaking out in sores is hitting the airwaves in Alberta.

The four-week television campaign launched by the Alberta Alcohol and Drug 
Abuse Commission this week is part of a $450,000 public awareness strategy 
to deter youths from trying cheap and highly addictive crystal 
methamphetamine in the first place.

One of the two commercials mimics a prescription drug ad and depicts a 
smiling couple while a narrator extols the "benefits" of crystal meth.

"Crystal meth can make you feel more like you -- only a more confident, 
sexier, more powerful you," it says.

Methamphetamine is a central nervous system stimulant which can indeed make 
users feel energetic, confident and alert. With prolonged use, however, 
addicts can become paranoid and violent and can suffer potentially 
life-threatening physical ailments - a point driven home in the commercial 
as the once-smiling woman vomits and the man's face breaks out in sores as 
they argue violently. 
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