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Anti-meth video sent to high schools
Published Friday, December 5, 2008
Alabama high school students will soon see a graphic video filled with before and after photos that don’t follow the normal pattern of an ugly person becoming pretty.
The before pictures show attractive Alabamians with warm smiles. The after pictures show gaunt, severely wrinkled faces dotted with sores. The smiles have turned to frowns framing decaying teeth.
In most cases, 18 to 24 months passed between the before and after pictures. During those months, the Alabamians became addicted to methamphetamine.
“This is the most lethal drug — the most lethal anything — that these children and youth or any adult can take into their body,” said Sue Adams, who directs drug prevention efforts at the state Department of Education.
The Alabama District Attorney’s Association produced the video and is working with the department and the governor to distribute it to all high schools and some middle schools. Gov. Bob Riley previewed the video for the news media Thursday at the Capitol and recommended that schools show it and discuss it.
It’s nothing like the government-produced anti-marijuana film “Reefer Madness” that become a comical, campy hit in the 1970s. This video is a fast-paced documentary focusing on Alabamians who have gone to prison for using meth or committing crimes to support their meth habit.
There’s a middle-class accountant from Huntsville. There’s a high school baseball star. There’s a father and mother who lost custody of their children because of their drug habits.
For teenagers concerned about their appearance, the video explains how methamphetamine stops the flow of saliva in the mouth and fosters rapid tooth decay — a condition known as “meth mouth.”
Vivid close-ups drive home the point.
Riley said some people may consider the video too graphic and shocking. But he said, “That’s exactly what we have to do” to stop what he called “the most insidious, most destructive drug we’ve ever had in Alabama.”
The video is the second step in Alabama’s “Zero Meth” project, which has been funded by $1.3 million in federal and state funds. The project began with ads, billboards and a Web site designed to discourage people from ever trying meth.
District Attorney Michael Jackson of Selma said district attorneys decided to produce a video for the second step because teenagers respond to videos better than lectures from adults.
District Attorney Jimmie Harp of Gadsden agreed the video is powerful.
“It is one of the most provocative and I think gritty things a child that age is going to see,” he said. “I think it drives a message home.”
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Comments
Posted by steve42 (anonymous) on December 5, 2008 at 9:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think this is a good move. There are some kids who will laugh about it, but that's to be expected. The "10 feet tall and bulletproof" mentality of high school students is well documented, but it's not true of all of them.
If just one student sees the video and it touches them enough to get them to turn away when drugs are offered, it's worth the video production costs.
My only question is, why limit viewing to the high school students? Many of these decisions are being faced by younger kids today and waiting until they're in high school may be a mistake.
Posted by my2cents (anonymous) on December 5, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I respect the goal of the campaign. What I don't understand is why there isn't more disciplinary actions taken when someone is determined to be taking this drug or any illegal drug. If these kids or adults for that matter were scared of the punishment from the law if they were to use illegal drugs then the "scare tactic" of the disciplinary action would cause them to refrain from doing it to begin with. Well maybe not all of them, but a greater portion of them. From my personal observations, it seems only those caught manufacturing or dealing drugs suffer any serious consequences. If you "nip it in the bud" then wouldn't that be more productive? Difficult problems usually require a difficult solution.
Posted by michelle_price (anonymous) on December 8, 2008 at 9:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i agree with you both, my two boys are 11(6th grade) and 9 (4th grade) and i think they should start them in elementary showing them these things. high school is too late the damage is done already. start it in the 4th grade, if the parents don't think their child is mature enough to see it or don't want their child to see it then let them go to another classroom.
Don't give them bail if they are caught manufacturing it they go to prison, no get out of jail free card. no slap on the wrist.
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