ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Federal officials on Wednesday launched an advertising campaign aimed at curbing methamphetamine use in American Indian communities in 15 states, including Washington and Oregon.
The three-month campaign expands on a series of radio ads and billboards that were tested in recent years in a few states. The effort includes nearly $2 million worth of television and radio air time as well as print and billboard space.
“There are a lot of cool things about being native. Meth isn’t one of them,” says a voice at the end of one of the new commercials. Indian youth painting a mural, playing basketball and practicing kicks in karate class are used during the 30-second spot to send the message that meth destroys creativity and health.
“We know that people fall through the cracks on the reservation and fall through the cracks in other places on tribal land. We have to work hard to change that,” Gil Kerlikowske, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said after citing what he called troubling data about meth use rates in tribal communities.
Meth use by Indians remains among the highest of any ethnicity. For instance, Indians are almost twice as likely to have used meth than whites and Hispanics and about five times more likely than African-Americans, according to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
A national youth risk behavior study done in 2005 showed 14 percent of Native American high school students had used meth one or more times during their life.
Alvin Warren, secretary of the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs, said the problem is particularly troubling on the nation’s largest Indian reservation, the Navajo Nation, which straddles parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.
In 2007, the FBI reported that about 40 percent of all violent crimes committed on the Navajo Nation were directly related to meth use and trafficking.
Kerlikowske said meth use is high in Indian Country because many tribal communities do not have enough police offices. Vast, sparsely populated Indian lands also can benefit meth manufacturers who are looking to cook the dangerous drug while staying under the radar of law enforcement, he said.
The ads will run through August in New Mexico, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Wyoming, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin and Utah.
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