News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2003

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Shirley A. Armstead, Special Agent
Public Information Officer
Office: 314-538-4752

Educational Media Campaign On Methamphetamine And Ecstasy

JUN 12--William J. Renton, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis Division, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), announced that on June 10, 2003, a new drug awareness and education media campaign on methamphetamine and ecstasy was launched by the Partnership For A Drug-Free America (PDFA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). This campaign is aimed at reducing substance abuse among teens by encouraging pediatricians to speak about the health consequences of these drugs to both parents and teens.

The goal of this two year program is to help reduce abuse of methamphetamine and ecstasy among youth by 1) improving key anti-drug attitudes and 2) increasing parent-youth dialogue regarding decisions about drugs. The strategy is to communicate the fundamentally unhealthy nature of substance abuse by speaking to teens and their parents with an authoritative, medical voice. The campaign is being co-sponsored by the Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

There are few areas of the country that have been hit harder by the abuse of methamphetamine and club drugs than Missouri and southern Illinois. That is why St. Louis has been selected as a pilot city to test this important new program. Armed with the results of the campaign, law enforcement, legislators, educators, parents and substance abuse experts will have new tools that will enable them to further curtail the use of illegal drugs among teens.