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The Montana Meth Project, a large-scale ad campaign designed toscare teens away from using methamphetamine, received a certificate ofrecognition last week from U.S. Drug Czar John Walters. Walters praisedthe campaign as "a model for prevention efforts nationwide," despitethe fact that the campaign is ineffective.
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The Montana Meth Project ads are often gruesome in depicting thedangers of methamphetamine use, showing users with rotten teeth andopen sores. In one ad, a young woman is shown literally plucking outall her eyebrows while on meth. In another, a young woman says thateven trying meth just once will lead to addiction and prostitution.
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This bold approach has drawn substantial media attention as well asattention from policy makers. However, internal evaluations from theproject show that perceived risks of using methamphetamine haveactually dropped since the ads started airing.
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The Montana Meth Project'sÂ*evaluation,which was released in April 2006, found that after the ads had beenairing for six months, there was a statistically significant reductionin the amount of risk teens perceived to be associated with regularmethamphetamine use.
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Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance,said, "Once again, the Drug Czar is pushing feel-good projects thatdon't work instead of honest information that is more effective atkeeping young people safe."
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Scare tactic ads like the ones in the Montana Meth Project, whoseslogan is, "Not even once," have a proven history of failure.Exaggerated messages that contradict young people's own perceptions andexperiences are ignored by teens as lacking credibility. "Once teensthink they are being lied to, they stop listening to all preventionmessages," Piper said.
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In addition to the counterproductive messaging, the ads create theinaccurate impression that Montana's youth are in the grip of anever-worsening methamphetamine problem. Tom Siebel, who founded theMontana Meth Project, referred to methamphetamine use as an "epidemicthat has been crippling our communities."
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However, methamphetamine use has actually been dropping steadily amongMontana middle schoolers and high schoolers since 1999, according tothe Centers for Disease Control's National Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
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"It's so important to be honest in drug education," said Piper. "TheMontana Meth Project can have a greater impact by providing honestinformation to teenagers, and has an obligation to be honest with thepublic."
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