State kicks off anti meth campaign

State kicks off anti meth campaign

By Cheryl Tatum
Star News Editor


HENDERSONVILLE – Merrol Hyde Magnet School student Tucker Jacky said he would likely never use meth, but added even if the thought crossed his mind portions of a video shown at school Monday would turn him away from the drug.

Jacky and other Merrol Hyde Magnet students were the first in the state to view the Meth Destroys video, part of a statewide education campaign aimed at keeping young people away from the drug.




District attorney generals from across the state and Gov. Phil Bredesen came to Merrol Hyde Magnet School Monday to launch the statewide education campaign “Meth Destroys.”

Bredesen told the students, who viewed a portion of the video, that it is time to focus on education in the campaign to eliminate the impact meth is having on Tennessee.

“Tennessee has one of the worst meth problems in the nation,” Bredesen said, adding there were 102 meth labs seized last year.

The campaign being promoted by the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, is a way for prosecutors to take a proactive part in reducing the number of meth cases that are crowding Tennessee courts.

“There is more to being a prosecutor than just putting people in jail,” Sumner County District Attorney General Ray Whitley said.

“This (the education program) is the next step in stopping a terrible problem,” Whitley told students.

Bredesen added he has high hopes for this education campaign because it shows the dangerous impact of meth use on real people.

“You need to understand that this is about real people and it’s not in California or New York City, it is happening now in Tennessee and Sumner County,” the governor told the students.

“What I like about this program is that it is not preaching, it is showing (the impact of meth use),” Bredesen added.

Jacky agrees with the governor on the approach to students.

“It actually shows what happens, it’s more than just telling you not to do it,” the Merrol Hyde Magnet student said.

Fellow student Katherine Griffin agrees saying that while she would never consider using the drug, the video should have an impact on young people.

The Meth Destroys campaign forms a partnership between district attorneys, law enforcement, businesses and other state agencies to raise awareness about the impact of methamphetamine use.

Dan Alsobrooks, district attorney from the 23rd Judicial District, and chairman of the DA’s meth committee said following the presentation action taken by the Tennessee General Assembly last year restricting the sale of items used to make meth are seeing results.

Saying the state is seeing a decline in the meth labs, Alsobrooks added the way to stop the manufacturing of the drug is to stop the demand.

He added the Meth Destroys campaign shows how dangerous the drug is to anyone who tries it just once.

“We wanted to show how it effects Tennesseans, that’s what makes it (the campaign) effective,” Alsobrooks said.

In Sumner County, both Whitley and Sumner County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Bob Barker said meth has not yet risen to the level it has in other parts of the state.

That, they say, is why this campaign aimed at middle and high school students is so important.

“We’ve been fortunate,” Barker said, adding the impact of meth goes beyond the user.

“Meth effects everyone,” he said.

DeLaine Bottoms, with the Tennessee Chapter of Child Advocacy Centers agrees.

Children are being removed from their homes because of their parents using and making meth, she said.

Children are among the victims of meth use, Bottoms added.

An important part of Meth Destroys, Bredesen said is the partnership with other agencies and businesses to spread the message.

One of the private sector partners in this campaign is Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Dr. Jeffrey Guy, with the Vanderbilt Burn Unit said if meth use in the state does not decline it will cause a health care crisis.

He adds a large portion of the patients who come through the burn unit have been injured during manufacturing of methamphetamines.

Twenty-two agencies and businesses ranging from the Tennessee Farm Bureau to the Outdoor Advertising Association are partnering with the state on this year-long campaign.