Durbin Announces Meth Awareness and Prevention Ad Campaign

DURBIN ANNOUNCES METH AWARENESS AND PREVENTION AD CAMPAIGN

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced the launch of a campaign to promote awareness and prevention of methamphetamine abuse in southern and central Illinois in partnership with the Illinois Sheriffs' Association and the Illinois Broadcasters Association. The campaign will use TV and radio commercials, as well as billboards to educate Illinoisans about the dangers of meth.

In fiscal year 2006, Durbin secured $177,700 in federal funding for the Illinois Sheriff's Association to help raise meth awareness. These funds were secured through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program in the Justice Department spending bill. That funding will be tapped for the community awareness campaign. Durbin is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a member of the Anti-Meth Caucus.

Earlier this year, Durbin asked the University of Illinois to gather and analyze data on how meth is affecting Illinois and to look at strategies for fighting back. The data suggest that most victims are white adults living in rural areas. Most of the people whose lives are damaged by this drug are poor and have less education than the average Illinois citizen. Men outnumber women by about 12% - but for most street drugs, men outnumber women by closer to 50% margins.

That stronger hold on women has major implications for children and families and their communities, Durbin said. Approximately 1,700 women with children and 115 pregnant women entered public drug treatment centers in Illinois last year. In 2004, more than half of the children entering foster care in some areas of rural southeastern Illinois were forced into the program because their caretakers were meth abusers. "Meth is tearing apart our families and overwhelming our child welfare network," Durbin said.

"Illinois law enforcement response has been swift and well-coordinated," Durbin said. Last year, the Illinois State Police encountered nearly 1,000 meth labs, more than double the number uncovered in 2000. In 1997, police found 24 meth labs, which indicates a ten-fold increase over 8 years.

Over the course of the last several years, Illinois Sheriffs' Association determined that a comprehensive approach, involving law enforcement and public safety working hand in hand with the communities to focus on prevention was required.

"The University of Illinois report speaks to the role of media and the value of a growing community awareness in turning the tide against meth use. The goal of this ad campaign is to make sure our communities know that this is happening - right here in Illinois. We know that awareness campaigns can help shape attitudes and spark conversations. These are not quiet ads. Our hope is that these ads will make people think," Durbin said.

"Before we can work together to protect our communities from the damaging effects of meth addiction, we have to recognize that there is a problem -- and that we all need to be part of the solution," Durbin said.

The ad campaign focuses on increasing meth awareness in southern and central Illinois, the areas of the state with the greatest need. More than 200 billboards will be placed in counties south of I-80, with a focus on counties south of I-72. The television ads will run in Champaign-Urbana/Springfield/Danville, the Quad Cities, Peoria and Paducah,KY/Cape Girardeau,MO/Harrisburg, IL. The TV spots are intended to run after 7:00 pm to reach the targeted age group of 12 - 17, parents and avoid TV time typically viewed by young children. The radio ads will run in Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, the Quad Cities and Marion-Carbondale. The ad campaign is expected to begin to air on December 17 and will run for two (2) 13 week cycles.

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