It's not often you can see gory pictures on the White House website. But the government is taking a head-on approach to reduce meth use among Hispanic youth, and those pictures are part of that campaign:
- The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, along with the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, has introduced a new communications campaign aimed at preventing use of the illicit drug methamphetamine in the Hispanic community.
- The English and Spanish-language campaign messages, which include public service advertisements for television, radio and print, will receive national distribution, making this the largest scale Spanish-language anti-meth effort to date.
Methamphetamine stats for Hispanic youth:
- Hispanic teens are almost twice as likely to have tried meth than White or Black teens. 12.8 percent of Hispanic teens grades 7-12 reported lifetime trial of meth in 2005 versus 7.1 percent of White and 6.2 percent of Black teens.
- 1 in 3 Hispanic teens grades 7-12 reports having close friends who use meth, versus 1 in 5 among White or Black teens
- Only 49 percent of Hispanic teens—less than half—see "great risk" in trying meth once or twice.
