ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: DRUG ABUSE
State needs long-term meth solution
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In an effort to educate Arizona residents about the horrible impact meth has on people, lives and our community, a 30- minute documentary, "Crystal Darkness," was shown on virtually every television station across our state April 15.
"Crystal Darkness" organizers hoped the effort would initiate conversations about meth and encourage current and/or former meth users to seek treatment.
The program, which has already aired in eight other markets in the southwest region of the United States as well as Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, was especially relevant in Arizona.
According to the 2006 Arizona Youth Survey, 4.3 percent of Arizona's youth ages 13 to 17 have tried meth - significantly higher than the national average.
Not only that, but meth is the No. 1 crime problem in Arizona with 75 percent of property and violent crimes and 65 percent of child abuse cases linked to meth use.
While we applaud the efforts of "Crystal Darkness" to shed a necessary light on meth use in Arizona, a long-term public awareness effort in our state is needed. Such an effort was identified as a key missing component by the Governor's Methamphetamine Task Force.
Soon after that recommendation, the Arizona Meth project was started to provide a public education and awareness campaign focused on stopping first-time meth use among Arizona's teens and young adults.
Through various outreach efforts over the past 12 months - including the Not Even Once Summer Youth Pledge in which young people across the state pledged never to try meth, the Not Even Once meth poster contest in which young people throughout Arizona created posters that spoke to their peers about the dangers of meth, and our participation in the KASW documentary "Descent Into Meth" - we have reached tens of thousands of young Arizonans.
Our ongoing prevention and education campaign is a cost-effective way to curtail use. Our anti-meth campaign has shown incredible results in Montana where it was first launched in 2005.
There, meth use among teens has declined by 45 percent, meth-related crime has dropped 62 percent and the number of workers testing positive for meth have declined by 72 percent - the largest drop in the country.
And the public is taking notice. Among the more than 600 e-mail messages and hundreds of phone calls that have poured into the Arizona Meth project are some very poignant and personal accounts.
One young woman, who admits that her brother is a meth addict, wrote in an e-mail, "I don't want to just be another voice that says something needs to be done. I need to get out there and do something about it."
In another e-mail, a mother writes, "I love the fact that you are using cold hard facts about this drug! You are not sugar-coating anything. . . My kids are now scared to death of this drug and we have talked more about drugs in these last few weeks than we ever have. I only have you to thank for that. . . Again, I cannot say enough about how wonderful I think this campaign is."
Although we continue to receive positive feedback from the community regarding the Arizona Meth Project efforts, we have come to a point where we need the public's help to continue the project's good work.
We are appealing to the public for donations so that we can show the third phase of advertising, which will demonstrate how an individual's meth habit impacts the people around them - their friends and families.
While the first two phases of ads showed the physical effects of meth use - rotting teeth, bloody scabs and a trip to the hospital emergency room - the third phase shows how meth destroys the relationships with friends and loved ones.
From the young man who pimps out his girlfriend for drug money to an enraged addict stealing from his mother's wallet and slapping her across the face, these graphic and heart-wrenching images underscore that meth destroys many lives - not just the life of the user.
If these messages are to continue to be heard across Arizona on every medium available - TV, radio, print, online and billboards - the Arizona Meth Project must raise $2.5 million.
Currently, we have raised approximately 10 percent of the funds needed for the next phase of ads.
We are thankful to the businesses and organizations for stepping forward and recognizing the need for the Arizona Meth Project to continue its work.
But we need more.
We have made it easy for anyone to donate by creating a page on our Web site to collect online contributions. You can go to www.arizonamethproject.org and click on the "Take Action" tab, which will direct you to the donations page.
While we have outlined sponsorship levels for large contributions, we want to emphasize that every dollar counts. Donations are tax deductible and can be made by check or credit card.
Together, we can make a huge difference and overcome the state's meth crisis.
Terry Goddard is Arizona attorney general and Don Stapley is a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. They are co-chairs of the Arizona Meth Project.
Knowing thousands of recovering alcoholics and addicts as I do, I have never met one that didn't have deeper issues underlying their drug or alcohol addiction.
Right now what we're trying to do is comparable to treating a sick or dying plant by focusing on the leaves. And while that's where the problem might appear, or manifest itself, where it "lives" is deep inside in the roots.
And addiction is the same. It hijacks the brain into thinking that it's the most important thing in the addict's life. And science, and brain imaging has conclusively proven that.
The solution to drug and alcohol abuse is far more complicated than anyone understands or wants to admit. And we ignore that fact at our peril.
I'll say we have to do something - but it starts way before "pledging never to do meth." Showing kids what their teeth will look like and describing how the scabs on their skin will feel won't stop kids from trying meth. I told my daughter these things and like every kid, she believed that she is invincible and none of that stuff will happen to her. Preventing this drug from taking over more of our lives is going to take more than that. I had those conversations with my daughter - she didn't care. She walked away from her children because she wanted the drug more than them.
I'm left to answer the tough questions for my granddaughter while my daughter is out being a party girl. Needless to say, I'm really ticked off about having to do that.