AD CAMPAIGN REVEALS HORRORS OF 'DEVIL'S DRUG'

10 Arizona Counties Banding Together To Combat Meth Use

A blond girl getting ready for a night out recoils in terror as she
sees an image of herself as a bruised, bleeding addict huddled on the
shower floor.

An agitated boy runs through a laundry facility, attacking people and
demanding money, when he encounters his former self and screams,
"This wasn't supposed to happen!"

These are just some of the graphic images that are part of an ad
campaign hitting the airwaves, billboards and newspapers today to
show the real-life horrors of methamphetamine use. advertisement

The campaign, called the Arizona Meth Project, is a collaborative
effort among 10 counties to saturate the media with startling
anti-meth messages that authorities hope will convince teens not to
try the drug - "not even once."

"I think it could have an impact. This is more honest and more
effective. Instead of just saying 'don't,' it shows what will
happen," said 14-year-old Daniel Williams, who was one of 28
Scottsdale middle-school students allowed to preview the ads Tuesday.

The graphic ads got their start as part of the Montana Meth Project,
an in-your-face campaign launched two years ago. Organizers in
Montana say the media and educational blitz has dramatically reduced
meth-related crime and changed attitudes.

Some experts believe meth is the most addictive drug available.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it takes the human
body about 12 hours to remove about 50 percent of the
methamphetamine, compared with only one hour for cocaine.

Meth use and distribution touch nearly every segment of society.

More than half of domestic-violence cases involve meth, and the drug
is present in two-thirds of cases in which Arizona children are
abused or neglected. Seventy percent of Arizona counties report that
robberies and burglaries have increased because of meth use.

More than half of the youths jailed by the Arizona Department of
Juvenile Corrections have a history of meth use. Among users, 84
percent said they regularly did meth and half were under the
influence of it when they committed their crimes.

In Arizona, marijuana and alcohol remain, by far, the drugs of choice
for youths. But 4.3 percent of teens ages 13 to 17 said they've tried
meth, according to the 2006 Arizona Youth Survey. That's double the
national average.

"Methamphetamine is the most serious threat to your safety," Attorney
General Terry Goddard told Cocopah Middle School students on Tuesday.
"It's out there; it's causing a lot of problems for us, and we need
your help to stop it. We know we already have a problem that's
bordering on getting out of control."

Arizona Meth Project ads will air between 7 p.m. and midnight on
stations that cater to younger audiences, including CW, MTV and
Comedy Central. On radio airwaves, Arizona young people will share
their addiction and recovery stories during peak drive times and on weekends.

Strong reactions to the ads have played out in Montana, according to
its attorney general's 2007 Trends and Impact Report. For the first
time, meth use and associated crime in Montana had declined. Law
enforcement and workplace drug-testing data showed a 41 percent
decrease in criminals testing positive for meth and a 70 percent drop
in workers testing positive for it.

The report also showed that 93 percent of teens said meth carried a
greater risk than any other drug if used just once.

Melissa, 24, knows the pull of meth. She first tried it on her 18th
birthday and dropped out of school within six months because "it
became more important for me to stay home and get high."

Her experience will likely be broadcast in the second series of radio
ads for the Arizona Meth Project.

Hers is a story of stops and starts, like an on-again/off-again
relationship. But the cycle stopped when, instead of snorting or
eating it, she started to smoke meth.

"That's when I got hooked," she said. "I lost my house. I lost my
car. I lost my family. I lost everything."

Melissa spent the next three years living on the streets or with
friends when she wasn't in jail for shoplifting, identity theft or car theft.

In that time, she got close to a dealer and stayed in an abusive
relationship to ride the high.

"It grabs you and takes you down," Melissa said. "They don't call it
the devil's drug for nothing."

Her parents intervened in May 2005 by helping get her into a
four-month rehab in Oklahoma and another four-month stint in Pennsylvania.

She now is clean, living in Casa Grande, and studying psychology at
Central Arizona College with plans to transfer to Northern Arizona University.

Melissa says her path may have been different if she had known about
the effects of meth six years ago.

"I went through D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education program). I
knew drugs were bad for you, but I didn't think it would be me," she said.

"The ads are so blunt, and they're just out there and really hard to ignore."