Idaho meth project targets minorities
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 10:48 AM PDT
BOISE (AP) — The Idaho Meth Project is targeting minority groups more than a year after the campaign was launched to steer teens and young adults away from methamphetamine through graphic TV, radio, print and billboard ads. The Idaho campaign says it is discussing working with tribes to reach out to American Indians, a strategy used by the Montana Meth Project and commended by the Crow Tribe for addressing an issue that has become a big problem on many reservations.
Idaho Meth Project Executive Director Megan Ronk also said that early this year the group began airing ads on Spanish-language radio stations in regions where the state’s Hispanic population is concentrated.
The effort was modeled after a similar one made by the Arizona Meth Project, Ronk said.
‘’They felt radio had been probably the most valuable media format to be able to reach that community,’’ Ronk said. The Idaho Meth Project is a gritty campaign aimed at persuading young people to avoid the drug.
The project began gearing its message toward the state’s Hispanic population after alarming statistics from a 2007 survey of high school students were released, Ronk said.
