ANTI-METH CAMPAIGN USES GRAPHIC ADS TO WARN TEENS

Augusta-area police say they support a hard-hitting ad campaign aimed
at keeping teens from using methamphetamine.

The Georgia Meth Project -- which debuted Monday on the steps of the
Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta -- is designed to flood media with
ads featuring graphic and startling images of teenage users.

Across a wide array of formats, the campaign will feature Georgia
teens talking about their experiences using the highly addictive stimulant.

Lt. Robert Partain, of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office Narcotics
Division, said any campaign that shows the effects on the users'
bodies and lifestyle is a powerfully effective deterrent.

"I think the campaign will hopefully target the user market, and it
will deter some," Partain said.

Locally, he said, the meth trade has been building over the past
several years.

Since Jan. 1, Partain said, his office has discovered five meth labs
in the Augusta area. They typically produce only a small amount but
are extremely dangerous because of harmful fumes from the production.
They can explode, making them hazardous to surrounding homes.

In one radio ad, 19-year-old addict Andrew describes his parents'
shock after he tried to hang himself.

"They were devastated seeing their baby boy hanging from a tree,
lifeless, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth," the ad said.

A print ad shows a dirty bathroom with the words, "No one thinks they
will lose their virginity here. Meth will change that."

Jim Langford, the executive director of the Georgia Meth Project, said
the ads were developed with the help of teenage focus groups and
Hollywood producers.

"Yes they are graphic, but to cut through all the other messages kids
see out there, they really have to be," he said.

Officials say Georgia ranks third in the U.S. in past-year meth users
between ages 12 and 17.

Last week, a Family Dynamics Committee, which consists of community
members and by state law must approve outside material shown to
students, approved the use of videos from the project for students in
grades six though 12.

Speaking at the debut Monday, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson said the
state's future was "being robbed by methamphetamine."

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said the use of meth must be
stopped before it becomes an epidemic. The Georgia Meth Project, which
was started more than a year ago, is modeled after a similar program
first launched in Montana in 2005, which has seen a 63 percent drop in
meth addiction among teens over the past four years.