PROVO — Wendy started using when she was 13 years old. She stopped caring about anyone, even her daughter. She ended up in jail.

Robin used and lost her son to the state.

Methamphetamine addiction has multiple consequences, not only for the user, but for all of society. That's one reason the state began the End Meth Now campaign — and it's working.

Richard Nance, director of the Utah County Division of Substance Abuse, reported Monday on the progress and success the campaign has seen to the Utah County Board of Health. The state meth council put together the campaign with billboards, commercials and a video featuring Wendy and Robin, which identified a Web site, endmethnow.org and a phone number, 211.

"(With the) billboards, we discovered rapidly they were powerful, because the advertising agency started getting complaints," Nance said. "We knew we were dead on."

The campaign is aimed not only at discouraging meth use but also to encourage and educate the public about successful treatment for anyone addicted to meth. Most meth users in Utah, 64 percent, are women of child-bearing age, many of them single moms with young children, Nance said.

About 13 percent of the hits the Web site had came from Utah County, Nance said. People are also becoming aware of the site and campaign by word of mouth, he said.

Many of the women who are addicted to meth feel they have nowhere to go and some either can't afford treatment or don't know what to do with their children. Utah County has two county-funded facilities, the House of Hope in Provo and the South County Promise of Women and Families Treatment Center in Spanish Fork, where women can take their children while they attend their treatment sessions. Both facilities have inpatient and outpatient therapy and between the two centers, they have 80 beds, Nance said. He added that the county chose to build the center in Spanish Fork, which opened in November, because most of the clients come from the south county.

Nance said when people stay in treatment for six months to one year, their sobriety rates are in the 90 percent range. With treatment, child abuse and neglect cases decrease along with the number of children placed in foster care and termination of parental rights, he said. He also said that those who successfully complete treatment have improved housing, a decrease in depression and anxiety, increased income and improved and stabilized relationships. Success in treatment also reaches the children.

"There's a positive impact on the children and that shows up in their school aspects," said Joan Baldwin, vice chairwoman of the board of health.

Meth is one of the most addictive drugs, more so than cocaine, and causes major health problems. Joseph Miner, executive secretary for the Board of Health, said the major issues are dental decay, and skin lesions where users dig at their skin. Successful treatment can also limit those health problems, Nance said.

Although meth is still a major problem in Utah, the state and the county have made progress in battling the drug, Nance said.

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E-mail: csmith@desnews.com