Pubdate: Thu, 20 Sep 2007 Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT) Copyright: 2007 The Billings Gazette Contact: http://www.billingsgazette.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/515 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) PROGRESS IN FIGHTING METH A massive anti-drug media campaign has turned many Montana teens away from methamphetamine. The latest Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey shows a remarkable decline in the number of high school students who say they have used meth one or more times during their lives. The percentage of Montana high school students saying they'd used meth had been dropping slowly since 1999 until the Montana Meth Project started running its edgy ads in 2005 on TV, radio and billboards and in newspapers. The percentage of students saying they used meth dropped an amazing 45 percent in the 2007 survey, compared with the 2005 survey. In 2005, 8.3 percent of students said they'd used meth; in 2007, it was 4.6 percent. That steep decline coincided with the Montana Meth Project's "Not Even Once" campaign. The private, nonprofit organization obviously is succeeding in effort to discourage teens from trying meth "even once." The Montana Meth Project, founded by Thomas Siebel, a businessman who owns a ranch near Helena, has spent about $15 million in private funds on its anti-drug campaigns. 4,000 Students Surveyed The Youth Risk Behavior Survey has been conducted in Montana every two years since 1991. More than 4,000 students in 47 randomly selected Montana schools participated in the 2007 survey, according to the Office of Public Instruction. This is great news about combatting demand for a toxic, highly addictive drug. But even as this success is celebrated, Montanans need to see the larger picture of risky behaviors among our youth. According to the Montana survey, teens who had used meth were much more likely than other students to engage in other risky behaviors. Meth users were nearly twice as likely to have had alcohol in the past 30 days, three times as likely to have driven while drinking and three times as likely to have attempted suicide in the past 12 months. Drugs, Sex and Suicide But the survey also points out that meth use isn't the only risk threatening Montana teens. Among students who don't use meth, 43.7 percent had had alcohol within 30 days of the survey, 15.9 percent had driven while drinking, 29.8 percent had five or more alcoholic drinks in a row within the past 30 days, 20.4 percent smoked tobacco, 13.3 percent chewed, 15.3 percent used marijuana, 11.5 percent sniffed glue or other inhalants, 26.6 had sexual intercourse within the past three months, 26.5 percent had been in at least one fight in the past year, 10.8 percent had attempted suicide in the past year and only 55 percent thought of themselves as "about the right weight." Meth is part of a constellation of addictions and dangerous behaviors that threaten the lives and health of Montanans. The Montana Meth Project, which is continuing ad campaigns through next year, has made a dent in the meth problem by heightening public awareness and encouraging parents to communicate with their children. Awareness and communication are key to dealing with all the risk behaviors surveyed. The Montana Meth Project has shown that dramatic progress is possible. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake