WINTER | 2009–2010

The Meth Project will launch its highly effective ad campaign in Georgia in early 2010!

"Our statewide fund-raising efforts have been extremely successful, and we can now look forward to a roll-out of our campaign early next year," said Jim Langford, Executive Director.

The Georgia Meth Project advertising campaign utilizes the ads and materials created by the Meth Project for several western states including Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona and Colorado. The Meth Project campaigns in these states have been extremely successful, reducing Meth use by as much as 72 percent in Montana. The Georgia Meth Project expects similar results in Georgia where the state has the 3rd highest number of Meth users 12-17 years old when compared to all other states in the US.

The saturation-level campaign is designed to reach 70 to 90 percent of teens statewide, 3 to 5 times per week with prevention messaging spanning TV, radio, billboards, newspapers and the Internet. The Georgia Meth Project will need to raise $6 million to implement this campaign.

While the Georgia Meth Project will follow the successful campaigns that started in Montana, Georgia will be the first Meth Project campaign east of the Mississippi River.

“This is a proven concept,” said Jim Langford, executive director of the Georgia Meth Campaign. “For a small investment we will make a huge impact on a multi-billion dollar illegal drug industry that has had a devastating and costly effect on Georgia.”

As the Georgia Meth Project continues to raise money for the statewide advertising campaign, Langford believes this is a small price to pay.

“If we are only half as successful as Montana‘s Meth Project, we will have spent $6 million to save hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare, foster care, incarceration costs and lost productivity,” Langford said. “That’s not to mention the countless lives that will be saved and families that can be spared.”

Attorney General Thurbert Baker took the Georgia Meth Campaign to Columbus with a well-received – and heavily reported – discussion with the city’s local Rotary Club.

“If we don’t get a handle on this Meth problem, it is going to ruin this state and country,” Baker told the Rotary Club of Columbus.

In his speech, Baker outlined how Georgia’s Meth problem is robbing the state of what its citizens hold most dear: their money and their children.

(Cont’d)

Georgia Meth Project Plans Early 2010 Launch

Campaign Takes Message to Columbus and Media

F U N D R A I S I N GFundraising efforts continue around Georgia in anticipation of an early 2010 launch of the advertising campaign.

Having raised $3.1 million in the first few months of the fundraising effort, the Georgia Meth Campaign has ensured the 2010 launch for the campaign that has won awards and shown proven results in multiple states. The campaign will still need to raise $2.9 million to reach its final goal and will continue fundraising into next year.

A small investment can have a big return. A $6 million advertising campaign could reduce Meth usage by half or more and help us resolve the #1 crime problem in Georgia. A reduction in Meth use would also lead to increased attendance in schools and higher productivity at work.

Meth use among teens in Montana, the first state to launch the campaign, has declined by 63 percent. Meth-related crime has dropped 62 percent in Montana and workers testing positive for Meth have declined by 72 percent. Even a portion of these in a state with a $1.5 billion a year Meth problem could turn a $6 million investment into hundreds of millions of dollars for Georgia.

$6 million

$3.1 million raised

GOAL:

(Cont’d from front)METH IN THE NEWS:

Violent Mexican Drug Cartel Found Home in Suburban NeighborhoodAccording to the Associated Press, on Thursday Oct. 22, authorities raided a house in Lawrenceville seizing 174 pounds of Meth. The Lawrenceville sting was part of a nationwide sweep officials called the largest single strike at Mexican drug operations in the U.S.

In metro Atlanta, authorities arrested 31 people in Gwinnett County, three in Cobb and one in Clayton while recovering a total of 188 pounds of crystal Meth.

Authorities said the house, a split-level in a middle-class neighborhood located within walking distance from an elementary school, was being operated as a Meth lab. Federal authorities called the lab one of the largest they have ever seen.

“This raid and arrests are important and helpful but won’t solve Georgia’s growing Meth problem,” said Jim Langford, executive director of the Georgia Meth Project. “Prevention also plays an important role. The goal of the Georgia Meth Project is to keep children, teens and young adults from trying Meth even once. If we reduce the demand for Meth, we will reduce the number of cartels running Meth labs in our neighborhoods.”

The house was being used by the violent Mexican drug cartel La Familia who controls much of the crystal Meth market in the U.S.

Gwinnett police officers raided 10 locations in that county alone. Rodney Benson, special agent in charge of the DEA's Atlanta Field Division, said metro Atlanta is one of the top La Familia operational centers.

Gwinnett Bust, October 22, 2009Advisory CouncilTom Siebel, Palo Alto, CAFounder, Meth Project Foundation

Thurbert Baker, Atlanta, GAAttorney General of Georgia

Lee Shaw, Atlanta, GAChairman, Georgia Meth Project

Jim Langford, Atlanta, GAExecutive Director, Georgia Meth Project

Rosalynn Carter, Plains, GANeil Kaltenecker, Atlanta, GABill and Nina Schwartz, Atlanta, GA Gaye Smith, Atlanta, GAC.G. "Pete" Caye Jr., Augusta, GAMelvin Deese, MD, Brunswick, GAPhil Tomlinson, Columbus, GAClay Miller, Dalton, GAAshley Smith Robinson, Gainesville, GARichard Otto, Saint Simons Island, GABill Jones III, Sea Island, GARichard G. Mooney III, Thomasville, GA

Contact theGEORGIA METH PROJECT3625 Cumberland Blvd., Suite 980Atlanta, GA 30339

E: info@georgiamethproject.orgP: (770) 618-7568W: www.GeorgiaMethProject.org

© 2009www.GeorgiaMethProject.org

According to the Department of Health, 51 percent of people entering treat-ment for Meth in Georgia are between the ages of 12 and 25, substantially higher than the national average.

Baker explained that Meth use and abuse is a $23.4 billion problem in the United States and a $1.3 billion problem in Georgia. In the most recent reports, 32 percent of the federal drug offenses in Georgia are Meth related.

The Georgia Meth Project’s goal is to address these issues by preventing first time Meth use with its “Not Even Once” advertising campaign. The Meth Project's research-based, high impact advertising graphically portrays the ravages of Meth use.

The campaign is attracting attention even before the first commercial has aired. The Columbus speech was reported by the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Associated Press and broadcast outlets across the state. The Columbus event is an example of the larger fundraising effort by the Georgia Meth Project taking place in many of Georgia’s major cities.

96% 4%

Where does your dollar go?Ninety-six percent of the budget for the Georgia Meth Campaign is spent on the powerful, award-winning advertisements to decrease Meth usage. Just four percent of the budget is used for administration and overhead costs.