'Meth. We're On It.': What to know about South Dakota's new anti-meth campaign

Lisa Kaczke | Argus Leader

Show Caption Hide Caption Meth. We're On It. Statewide campaign kicks off The State of South Dakota launched a campaign for meth prevention and awareness on Monday, Nov. 8.

Gov. Kristi Noem has a message for South Dakota: "Meth. We're On It."

Noem launched her new anti-meth campaign on Monday to bring awareness to the meth epidemic in South Dakota that will include a new TV ad, billboards, posters and website. The campaign's motto features the phrase, "Meth. We're on it," over an outline of South Dakota, and the ad and posters feature people of differing in ages and races saying, "I'm on meth."

South Dakota's meth crisis is "growing at an alarming rate" and impacts every community in the state, Noem said in the campaign's public service announcement.

"This is our problem and together, we need to get on it," Noem said.

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Broadhead Co., a marketing and ad agency in Minneapolis, created the "Meth. We're On It." campaign. The state's Department of Social Services has paid the agency just short of $449,000 so far this year, according to the state's finances website, open.sd.gov. The state's contract with Broadhead, effective until May 31, 2020, states that the contract shouldn't exceed $1.4 million.

In its proposal, Broadhead says the tagline "I'm on Meth" will create "a movement for all South Dakotans to take an active role in keeping their state a great place to live."

The campaign went viral on social media and the terms "South Dakota" and "meth" were trending in the United States on Twitter after it was launched on Monday morning, with many people questioning the tagline, "Meth. We're On It," and pointing out that it indicates that all South Dakotans are on meth.

Noem: Campaign is a success

But Noem declared the campaign a success because the mission of the campaign was to raise awareness and get people talking about being part of the solution, not just the problem, when it comes to the state's meth epidemic.

The campaign is doing that, she said in a statement on Monday afternoon. She added that they hope to emphasize that meth is an issue that affects everyone. Meth isn't someone else's problem, and it's critical that fighting meth and extending hope to meth users becomes a part of daily conversations, she said.

"This a bold, innovative effort like the nation has never before seen," she said.

The campaign will use various mediums in the coming weeks to "educate every person across South Dakota" on the signs of meth addiction, the resources available to combat addiction and the strategies to engage communities in recovery, she said.

"I am confident South Dakota can lead the country in this effort and demonstrate ways we can aggressively combat addiction and spark opportunities for recovery," she said.

What the ad agency has to say about the campaign

In Broadhead's explanation of the project posted on its website, the company wrote that previous meth awareness campaigns target people at risk for trying meth and they found that expanding the audience leads "to a unique space and a message that thus far has been missing from the dialogue." The campaign was a "passion project" because it communicates for the greater good and the agency enjoys "unraveling issues of great complexity," according to Wayne Carlson, vice president of brand strategy at Broadhead.

The ad agency wanted to add to the conversation, creative director Walt Burns said in a video discussing the campaign. Carlson researched meth, surveyed South Dakota parents and learned about the communication gaps between Native Americans and Caucasians, according to Carlson.

They thought about what culture they could influence with an anti-meth campaign and learned about South Dakota culture in general. The point that kept coming up in their research was South Dakota's pride and they thought about how to "activate" that pride in a way that can make a difference, Carlson said.

"South Dakotans are a very prideful people, whether it be an American Indian who resides on a reservation and is very prideful about that particular culture or a West River rancher and the operation that he runs or a nurse in Sioux Falls and just the pride of living in South Dakota," he said.

South Dakota's pride moved the message from fear to optimism, empowerment and an understanding that the meth epidemic affects everyone in South Dakota, Burns said.

"We wanted to take real South Dakotans and give them this message that we all need to be on it. If you look at the numbers, it's really easy to imagine the entire state of South Dakota being overcome by this thing," Burns said.

Broadhead also proposed two "I'm On Meth" radio concepts that feature people whose lives have been touched by meth. In one of the spots, a man discusses how "normal, sober people" can become addicted to meth after only one hit and meth users get younger every year. He urges people to become proactive about the epidemic before it kills their community.

"So instead of putting blinders on while the seventh graders down the street are being offered a drug that's guaranteed to destroy their lives, I'm getting on top of it and so should you," the man said.

What else is included in the anti-meth effort?

The state's 2020 budget also includes $1 million for meth treatment services and more than $730,000 for school-based meth prevention programming. The state has also implemented meth task forces in Sioux Falls and Pennington County, according to the campaign announcement.

"It is filling our jails and prisons, clogging our court systems and stretching our drug treatment capacity while destroying people and their families," Noem said.

Social Services Secretary Laurie Gill called the campaign "inclusive and empowering." Eighty-three percent of South Dakota's 2019 court admissions for controlled substances are related to meth, according to Gill.

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"It's evident there's a need for an aggressive approach to reduce use of the devastating drug. This is a movement to educate South Dakotans on the signs of addiction, the treatment resources that are available and how to implement prevention techniques in their homes and among their communities," Gill said in the announcement.

Addiction treatment pros say campaign is a win

Those working in addiction treatment facilities in South Dakota applauded Noem for bringing the issue to the forefront with her anti-meth campaign.

"Anything that brings attention to our addiction problem is a good thing," said Dave Jansa, Face It Together program advisor.

Alcohol is the highest reported primary substance addiction, followed by methamphetamine at Face It Together, an organization that matches clients to peer coaches and provides support to family and friends with addiction. Overall, Jansa hopes that as a society, people can learn to talk about addiction as a whole, not necessarily through a specific drug.

"It is the epidemic, not just one drug," he said.

Carol Regier, CEO of Keystone Treatment Center, said the campaign is "a good thing." A large portion of Keystone's patients are addicted to meth, and most of the patients in Keystone's adolescent unit have tried meth, she said. She hopes the campaign raises awareness about the dangers of meth, including how it affects the body and brain, and that there's help available.

"It's a dangerous disease, and I think it's very good that the state is going to take some action about it," Regier said.

Meth use is a serious issue for South Dakota and the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota called on the state to not "incarcerate our way out of addiction" on Monday. Increased meth use in South Dakota has added further urgency to the need to expand addiction treatment and mental health resources for people with drug dependency, said Libby Skarin, policy director at the ACLU of South Dakota.

"Though the concept of putting fewer people behind bars may seem like a difficult stance to take in a state as conservative as South Dakota," Skarin said, "our tough-on-crime policies can't fix society's problems — especially in regards to addiction."