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June 4, 2012

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Nevada among states targeted in anti-meth campaign

Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009 | 2:31 p.m.

Beyond the Sun

Nevada is one of 16 states being targeted for a national anti-methamphetamine campaign because of high usage rates.

The $9 million ad campaign was launched Tuesday in St. Louis. Missouri is among the states worst-affected by methamphetamine addiction, and has ranked first in the nation for years in meth lab busts and seizures.

Wyoming, Arkansas and Nevada were the top three states as far as per capita usage of meth among people ages 18-25 in a 2007 survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The new campaign focuses on a message of hope — that meth addiction can be overcome.

The ad blitz runs through November and will be run in newspapers, online and on TV, radio, billboards and even gas pumps. It focuses on the 16 states with the worst meth problems — Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky and Nebraska in the Midwest and Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico in the West. Anti-meth radio and Web ads will run nationally.

“Despite the overall decline in meth usage across the country, we still have work to do,” federal drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said. “This drug leaves a path of destruction that affects individuals, families and entire communities.”

Kerlikowske’s office cited a 2007 survey that found that more than 5 percent of Americans age 12 or older had tried meth at least once, and that an estimated 529,000 Americans had used meth in the past month.

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