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