DRUG CZAR STARTS AD CAMPAIGN

Walters Launches Meth Announcements In Springfield, MO.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The nation's drug czar launched an ad campaign
Monday encouraging communities across the country to help in the
fight against methamphetamine.

The 30-second public service announcements were introduced on
television Monday in Springfield, in southwestern Missouri, which
leads the nation in illegal meth lab seizures. The ads will run in 22
other cities, including Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham, in coming weeks.

The campaign comes as the Bush administration and many states are
stepping up efforts to stop the spread of meth, an addictive
stimulant that can be prepared or "cooked" in makeshift labs with
over-the-counter cold tablets and common household chemicals.

The ads warn of the harmful effects of meth labs on communities.
Viewers are referred to a Web site, www.drugfree.org/Meth, with
information about toxic byproducts, crime, and the plight of the
children of meth cookers and addicts.

"The meth problem needs the individual contribution of more citizens
in their neighborhoods and their communities," said John Walters, the
director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The ads will also run in: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Dallas;
Denver; Des Moines, Iowa; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Miami; Pittsburgh;
Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis; Sacramento, Calif.; Salt Lake City; San
Antonio, Texas; San Francisco, Seattle, Savannah, Ga.; and Tampa, Fla.