Pubdate: Sun, 25 Jun 2006
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2006 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter-to-editor.php
Website: http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Jaclyn O'Malley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that 
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

NEVADA LOOKS TO MONTANA'S GRAPHIC ADS ABOUT METH

If advertising can sell soft drinks, automobiles and sex, it can also 
sell anti-meth messages and prevent kids from using it.

Or so software billionaire Thomas Siebel thought.

Last year he gave $6 million in grants to the Montana Meth Project 
for a saturation campaign of multi-media shock ads that depicted 
teens using meth and the graphic devastation that follows. He hired 
the top advertising teams to make the commercials and Web site, along 
with a public relations team to conduct surveys on teens.

The MMP became the largest advertiser in the state of Montana, and 
four of its ads made the top 20 list in September for AdCritic.com, a 
Web site for the advertising industry.

Nevada doesn't have a similar campaign, but Washoe County parents and 
schoolchildren might soon get to see the Montana ads.

In one ad, the camera pans on a girl's cracked and sore-coated lips. 
Her teeth are yellow and rotten. Her hair is stringy, her skin is 
sunken and sallow and her fingernails are dirty and chewed. She's 
sitting next to a filthy mattress with clothing strewn about.

"I did meth ... and now, this is my life," she says.

In another ad a girl begs to try some meth. "You want meth, kid, 
here's meth," says one man. He points to another man and says, "That 
your meth dealer," points to another and says, "That's your meth 
boyfriend." Then a scene suggesting a sexual assault flashes. He 
says, "Here is your meth baby," and then, "Don't forget your meth 
face." The girl weeps as she looks at her ravaged face in a mirror.

The organization says these ads are working. Research shows a 
decrease in first-time meth use, a wider-scale awareness and more 
parents talking to their children about meth.

Now states such as Arizona and Nevada are trying to import the 
organization's ad campaign in an effort to reduce demand for the drug 
by educating the community, especially youth, on its hazards. The 
Washoe County School District is trying to implement the ads through 
its own substance abuse programs.

Part of the MMP program is sharing its ads through DVDs and 
literature with agencies who want to use them.

Eddie Bonine, Washoe County School District director of student 
services, said he is meeting with school officials about 
incorporating the messages into their drug prevention curriculum.

"Meth is the No. 1 drug and we've got to stop it," Bonine said. "It 
ruins people's lives. Students are the targets of these meatheads who 
sell drugs and we have to make a dramatic impact on these kids."

The school district is also working to get a drug recognition officer 
to train educators so they will know what signs to look for in 
students to get them help.

MMP Executive Director Peg Shea, a former drug treatment specialist, 
said the campaign approaches meth like a consumer marketing problem.

"The project was done by an individual who said we need to deal with 
this problem," she said of Siebel. "We sell products very well so why 
not focus on selling a social issue?

"We think meth use is a preventable problem, and it takes this level 
of commitment and resources and the media to make it happen and 
resonate to kids."

She said the messages encourage people to talk about the issue and 
then take action. The message might help lawmakers realize drug 
treatment funding nationally is too low.

"They either build prisons or provide treatment," she said. "We can 
pay for foster care or treatment."

[Sidebar]

Montana Meth Project MMP, a non-profit organization based in Helena, 
Mont., was founded in February 2005. Its intention is to reduce 
overall meth use in the state, first-time meth use among teens 12 to 
17, raise awareness about the problem and get communities involved in 
prevention and education.

The group uses television, billboards, radio and print ads to get its 
message out. It also gauges what messages works best for teens and 
coordinates activities with other organizations nationwide.

The project is funded by a grant from the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation.

www.montanameth.org and www.NotEvenOnce.com
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman