METH PROJECT DIRECTOR AIMS TO RAISE $1.5 MIL

Maricopa County has hired a new Arizona Meth Project director whose
main objective is to raise $1.5 million to carry the project through
its third and final phase.

Launched in April, the project began its public-awareness campaign
with gritty, in-your-face TV, billboard and radio advertisements to
discourage youths from trying methamphetamine, "not even once."

So far, the impact in Arizona has been anecdotal, with officials
culling responses from the project's Web site and by telephone. An
official survey to measure the project's effectiveness will take
place in the next six months, said Amy Rex, the new Arizona Meth
Project director.

"This is really impacting people; it's getting their attention," Rex
said. "They're talking to their friends about not taking meth;
parents are talking to their kids."

The hope is that the Arizona Meth Project will have the same kind of
success as its counterpart in Montana. Since the Montana Meth
Project's inception in 2005, meth use has decreased by 50 percent
among youth and more than 70 percent among adults, according to a
recent state survey.

The Arizona project has received about $5.3 million in funding from
10 counties, the Arizona Attorney General's Office and private donations.

The program just initiated phase two, which includes a new set of
advertisements. Each phase is six months long.

Rex said she expects the $1.5 million to be generated by additional
public and private partnerships.