Published: May 30, 2007 11:08 pm      

CrimeStoppers launches anti-methamphetamine campaign

Local airwaves, television sets and the newspaper in Meridian will soon be flooded with anti-methamphetamine ads — a move that is designed to deter people from ever trying the drug.

The “Meth: A Living Nightmare” ad campaign will be featured in the local media, including The Meridian Star, beginning next week. The advertising campaign was inspired by the Montana Meth Project and was created by Leading Edges Advertising.

S.W. Calhoun, chairman of the CrimeStoppers Board of Directors, announced the campaign during a press conference Wednesday at Union Station, and he said he hopes to get the message into the schools as well.

“Meth is a scourge, as all drugs are, to our young people and adults, and also is a very dangerous thing in our neighborhoods,” Calhoun said. “It’s not a problem somewhere else, it’s a problem here too and we hope to do something about it.”

Calhoun created a committee made up of Bill McBride, Al Willis and Steve McCartney charged with researching methamphetamine use and manufacturing in Lauderdale County. McBride said that after watching the Montana Meth Project documentary, they decided a similar project could be beneficial in Lauderdale County.

The radio spot will feature the testimony of a recovering crystal meth addict, the newspaper ad will feature the face of a young girl ravaged by the affects of methamphetamine. The television advertisements will feature an attractive young girl before and after methamphetamine addiction.

Lauren Denham of Leading Edges Advertising said the ads will change every three months.

Chief Deputy Ward Calhoun with the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department said the crystal meth epidemic began out west and has made its way east. He said methamphetamine saw a rise in rural areas because the key ingredients are easily found.

Ingredients in crystal meth include ammonia, battery acid (sulfuric acid), brake cleaner, cold tablets containing pseudoephedrine, drain cleaner (sodium hydroxide), freon, iodine crystals, paint thinner, reactive metals (sodium or lithium), red phosphorus and ether.

Most states now have laws restricting the sale of over-the-counter medication that contains ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.

Lt. Dean Harper, spokesman for the Meridian Police Department, said methamphetamine labs aren’t usually found inside the city limits. And, he said, all arrests for possession or manufacturing of methamphetamine inside the city limits are processed by the sheriff’s department.

Chief Deputy Calhoun said now is the time to educate young people about the potential affects of methamphetamine use.