VIDEOS TARGET DANGERS OF METH USE

KRONENWETTER - A local media company is producing a pair of videos that
police hope will help stem the spread of methamphetamine use in the region.

Producers planned this week to record interviews with two Marathon County
Jail inmates, a man who is battling a serious meth addiction and a
conservation warden who has expertise on the environmental impact of meth
labs. They also have talked with a state narcotics agent and a Chippewa
Falls doctor who treats addiction. The videos - one geared toward
teenagers, the other toward adults - are due to be completed by the end of
March and will be used in several ways, including to teach students about
the dangers of meth and to train emergency personnel who respond to meth
lab spills.

Susan Reetz of Rucinski & Reetz in Kronenwetter received $35,000 and the
green light for the project in October when a $300,000 federal grant was
secured by U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wausau. The grant was awarded to police
in the region to combat meth labs. Reetz is coordinating the project with
Don Byrne of the Post House, a communications company in Eau Claire.

"We've been working pretty hard, lining up our interviews, finding the
right people with the right kind of stories that would impact our viewers
and lead them to the decision that this is a pretty bad route to go," Reetz
said.

Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant often associated with the youth
rave culture. Meth "cookers" mix paint thinner, over-the-counter cold
medicine, drain cleaner and other chemicals to create a white powder smoked
by users. The ingredients are so dangerous that labs often are declared
toxic waste dumps.

Reetz had planned for the videos to cover the rave drug ecstasy, as well,
but the specialized grant and the prevalence of meth labs turned her focus
solely on methamphetamine.

"We've seen a rise in meth labs in this whole area," said Marathon County
Sheriff's Department Capt. Tom Kujawa, administrator of the Central Area
Drug Enforcement Group. He applied for the federal grant to establish a
regional police network focused on meth lab enforcement.

"Meth is not out of control in our community, but it's an issue and it's an
issue for everyone," he said.

The broader effects include rising health insurance costs, loss in
productivity at work and potential hazardous waste dumps in residential areas.

The solution is education, Reetz said, and producers are taking care to
present the message so it is relevant to their audience. Also, they are
talking to experts and addicts in north central and northwestern Wisconsin
to keep the voices local.

Similar videos on gangs have won awards for Rucinski & Reetz, but Reetz
said that after seeing the devastating effects meth use can have on an
addict, awards aren't as important to her as encouraging young people not
to use methamphetamine.