A little more about Meth use and Hispanics:
According to the 2005 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study:
- 1 in 3 Hispanic teens grades 7-12 reports having close friends who use meth
- Only 49 percent of Hispanic teens-less than half-see "great risk" in trying meth once or twice.
Additionally, qualitative research among Hispanic parents revealed a low awareness of meth's prevalence and its dangers, along with a lower than average frequency of talking to their kids about drugs. Only 35 percent of Hispanic parents reported talking to their kids about drugs four or more times per year, compared with an estimated 50 percent for Black or White parents.
"These numbers are a warning sign for Latino parents and families, and the message is clear: now is the time to learn about the risks of meth and share that information with your children," said Mike Townsend, executive vice president, Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "We cannot allow methamphetamine to become a more destructive threat to Latino families, or to become a mainstream drug for teens, and the best way to prevent that is to help adults, family influencers and teens understand how meth can destroy their health and their future."
The young adult messages, available in both Spanish and English, paint a graphic portrait of the devastating physical and psychological consequences of meth use. One television spot, "Head," features a young girl talking to a friend, downplaying the effects of her meth use. As she talks, her sunglasses are removed to reveal sunken eyes, a scarf taken off to show the telltale skin lesions common among meth users, and when she smiles, she shows off a mouthful of loose, rotting teeth. "This is a wake-up call to all Hispanic young people and their parents. This stuff can destroy our families, our lives, our dreams...everything we come to the US to achieve, " said Federico Mejer, Chief Strategy Officer at REVOLUCION, the NY Based agency that created the work pro-bono for Partnership.
The adult-targeted messages, available only in Spanish, appeal to parents and family influencers to be proactive in learning and talking to teens and young adults about the dangers of meth. The messages emphasize the price of doing nothing-stressing that no matter how awkward the conversation, meth is a threat that must not be ignored.
Nationwide, approximately 12 million people have tried meth at least once, with 1.4 million people reporting use in the past year.
The advertising messages were created pro-bono for the Partnership by REVOLUCION Hispanic Communications, a New York-based agency. The campaign includes two television ads ("The Head" and "The Doll" in Spanish and English), one radio spot ("Look in the Mirror" in Spanish) and two print messages ("Guilty" and "Body Parts" in Spanish only). The campaign was subject to rigorous qualitative testing among Hispanic teens and parents, and all ads direct audiences to the Partnership's meth Web site, www.drugfree.org/meth and to a toll-free number, 1-888-8no-meth. For more information about methamphetamine, please visit www.drugfree.org/meth or www.methresources.gov.
REVOLUCION created the the first nationwide anti-meth effort designed to reach the Hispanic community. REVOLUCION, The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, along with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, introduced a new communications campaign aimed at preventing use of the illicit drug methamphetamine in the Hispanic community. The English and Spanish-language campaign which includes public service advertisements for television, radio and print, will receive national distribution, making this the largest scale Spanish-language anti-meth effort to date.
