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The Utah Joint Methamphetamine Task Force took a significant step forward recently in the battle against meth addiction by resolving to launch an intense public awareness campaign, perhaps as soon as the end of the year.
Now the question becomes what form that campaign will take.
Some want the awareness campaign patterned after one Montana is using. The approach is intense, direct and disturbingly compelling. The nationally recognized Montana Meth Project features TV and radio spots, billboards and other ads described as "high-impact." They're designed to reach kids with "hard-hitting risk and consequence messages" that virtually frighten viewers and listeners into never experimenting with the highly-addictive drug.
You can view the campaign at www.montanameth.org/
No question the messages get attention. But, are they effective? Do they actually keep people from using meth? And would they be appropriate for a Utah audience?
Rather than rushing to summarily adopt what another state is doing, KSL believes task force members are wise to explore a variety of options. It is important to find what sort of awareness messaging would work best here. Ultimately Utah's war on meth will be best served by finding the most effective way of convincing vulnerable citizens, especially impressionable young people and women, not to experiment in any way with meth.
