Anti-meth campaign might be sinking in

Nearly six months after announcing a campaign to get the word out about methamphetamine, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s meth message is apparently getting through.

The "End Meth Now" public awareness campaign, which is intentionally devoid of the heavy scare tactics used in Montana and in a campaign about to begin in Arizona, is making a big impression: more than 43 million message "hits" tracked through four television stations, eight metro radio stations, 21 rural radio stations, 16 newspapers and magazines and 296 billboards.

Perhaps the most telling statistic is the 19,054 people who have visited the www.endmethnow.org Web site since the late September unveiling of the campaign, Lisa-Michelle Church, executive director of the state Department of Human Services, told the Deseret Morning News Editorial Board on Tuesday.

"As director of the department in the state where meth use cuts across every one of my divisions, it's an important indicator that the public awareness and public discussion of its use — and more importantly that there is help and treatment for users — is actually taking place," Church said.

Although a new statewide substance abuse report indicates methamphetamine use is waning a bit, it remains the most common illicit drug in Utah, and the drug of choice among young women.

Having a campaign that focused on its most common users was controversial in development, said Church, who also co-chaired a special statewide task force that looked at the scope of usage and most effective methods of getting legislative and general public support to address what she and other public health and law enforcement agencies characterize as a drug abuse problem that has become an epidemic.

Women like Alisha Berry, a single mom and former user who fully endorsed the campaign because it involves real people who are over the fence in neighborhoods, not down-and-out gawker types on the street.

Fear-mongering campaigns used elsewhere just keep the us-and-them attitudes going in the public, she said. "Plus it reinforces the attitude out there and among the users that there's no hope for anyone who is using it. The prospect of hope after meth is a message that was needed and should be repeated as often as possible.

"Although some will deny it, users don't need to hear about the physical and emotional damage that they know all too well themselves," Berry said. "What people need to know is where they can go for immediate help" during one of the hundreds of times a user decides she or he has had enough.