Dalton Youth Serve In Anti-Meth Campaign

Pubdate: Sun, 29 Nov 2009
Source: Rome News-Tribune (GA)
Copyright: 2009 Rome News-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.romenews-tribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1716
Author: Charles Oliver
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

DALTON YOUTH SERVE IN ANTI-METH CAMPAIGN

The teen's eyes stare at you from the photograph --  bloodshot and
vacant over lips that are scabbed and  peeling.

"Actually, doing meth won't make it easier to hook up,"  reads the
caption.

That image and many others like it are part of a  controversial
advertising campaign aimed at deterring  methamphetamine use among
teenagers. First launched in  Montana four years ago by the Montana
Meth Project, the  ads have spread to several other states. Next year,
the  nonprofit Georgia Meth Project will bring the ads to  this state.

"After these start to run, there may be people who will  say, 'Is the
drug problem really that bad that we have  to run these kinds of ads?'
and you'll have law  enforcement, health care professionals and former
  addicts who'll say 'The problem is that bad. This is  not an
exaggeration. This is something that everybody  needs to pay attention
to,'" said Jim Langford,  executive director of the Georgia Meth Project.

Langford said the ads will launch in the first quarter  of 2010, as
early as January if all goes according to  plan.

"It is a proven campaign. It has TV, radio, billboards.  It has a
community involvement component. It's a  prevention campaign. It's a
huge marketing campaign,"  Langford said. "The radio ads are real kids
telling  real stories, their own personal stories. We found that  a
school administrator or another adult standing in  front of a bunch of
kids doesn't have a very big  effect. If you have stories that are
believable and you  have kids telling other kids about these drugs, it
  seems to have a very strong effect."

He believes the ads will have a strong impact.

"These are not going to be ads running late at night  when nobody is
watching. They'll run in the afternoons  when kids are watching TV and
at night when adults and  kids are watching," he said.

Businessman Lee Shaw said the Georgia Meth Project got  under way last
year, when Georgia Attorney General  Thurbert Baker invited him and
other business leaders  to discuss the meth problem in Georgia. At
that  meeting, they heard from Tom Siebel, who had helped  create the
Montana Meth Project.

"I saw what a large problem it is in Georgia, and North  Georgia,
where I'm from originally, had one of the  worst problems in the state
of Georgia," Shaw said. "We  had the problem identified. We had the
solution to the  problem identified. We just needed to get someone to
take the initiative."

The Montana Meth Project claims that teen meth use has  dropped by 63
percent since the ad campaign started  there, that adult meth use has
dropped 73 percent, and  that meth-related crime has dropped 62 percent.

Critics note that teen meth use in the state had been  falling for six
years before the campaign started. And  a study published last year in
the peer-reviewed  journal Prevention Science found that the Montana
Meth  Project's own data suggest that prolonged exposure to  the ads
may lead teens to believe meth use is  acceptable and not dangerous.

The 1936 film "Reefer Madness" was rediscovered in the  1970s and
became an unintentional comedy hit among  young people because of the
way it exaggerated the harm  from marijuana use. Langford said the
meth project ads  will not meet a similar fate.

"That will not be the case this time. They were so  careful the way
they pulled these professionals  together. They wanted to make the ads
very realistic in  terms of how the drug is used, very realistic about
how  it affects kids and parents, so nobody can say that  'That's not
real. That's not how the drug is used.  That's not really the effects
of this drug.' They were  very careful about that," he said. "This
drug is truly  unlike anything anybody has ever seen. The chemical
effects on the body, it's hard to over emphasize how  destructive it
is on the body, on the mind and on  lives. Methamphetamine is five
times more powerful than  crack cocaine. It's a very, very destructive
drug."

Ann Davies, director of treatment services at Highland  Rivers,
agrees.

"It's a very addictive drug. We're seeing folks who  have really lost
everything, their health and their  families, and it's very difficult.
It's a very  difficult drug for our consumers to stay away from
unless there is involvement from the legal (aspect),"  she said.

Langford said Georgia has the third highest rate of  teen meth use in
the nation, and he cites a study by  Rand which found meth costs
Georgia $1.3 billion each  year in health care costs, crime, lost
productivity and  other costs. And he says North Georgia has some of
the  worst meth problems in the state.

Local experts agree the meth problem is bad here, but  some say they
see signs of improvement.

"We're seeing people (meth addicts) but it's been a lot  less than a
few years ago when they cracked down on the  availability of
pseudoephedrine," said Gary Tester,  coordinator of outpatient
services for the Westcott  Center at Hamilton Medical Center. "But the
people who  manufacture meth have found a new way to make it so we
might see an increase."

Lamar Long, interim director of the Whitfield County  Department of
Family and Children Services (DFACS),  also said he believes the meth
problem is getting  better and officials are seeing fewer referrals
for the  drug. He said laws making it harder to buy  over-the-counter
drugs with pseudoephedrine have  helped, and he adds the Georgia Meth
Project will also  help.

But Dr. William Pullen, medical director of the  Emergency Department
at Hamilton Medical Center, said  the emergency room hasn't seen a
change in the number  of meth users admitted.

"It has been pretty consistent over the last several  years," he
said.

The Dalton Daily Citizen also ran three other articles  on meth today.
One article talks with a meth user while  another discusses meth and
its impact in Murray County.

They can be found here: 
http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/local/local_story_332233107.html

and here: http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/local/local_story_332232628.html

A third article on how to find help for addicts can be  found here:
http://www.northwestgeorgia.com/local/local_story_332232514.html

For more information on the Georgia Meth Project, go to
www.georgiamethproject.org . To see some of the Meth  Project ads, go
to www.methproject.org . 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D