Montana’s Approach to Fighting Meth Abuse Works

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to your article on the Montana Meth Project (“Technology Mogul’s $17-Million Gift to Fight Meth Attracts Controversy,” May 17) in which Ryan King of the Sentencing Project suggests there is no empirical validation of the Meth Project’s success.

The Meth Project is a response to a critical problem facing many states.

Two years ago we were certainly facing one in the state of Montana.

As the state attorney general, I witnessed firsthand the devastation the drug was having on our rural communities, on our Indian reservations, and on our youth as a whole:

• Fifty-two percent of children in foster-care placement are there due to meth-related abuse.

• Fifty percent of adult inmates are incarcerated due to meth-related crimes.

• Twenty percent of adults in treatment report meth as their primary drug of choice. Almost everyone in the state knows someone who has been touched in some way by meth use.

In a report my office released last year, and which was provided to the author of the aforementioned article, we found that dramatic progress has been made in the fight against meth since the inception of the Montana Meth Project.

A survey of middle-school and high-school students showed that 93 percent of respondents perceived meth use as having “great risk.” According to the semiannual Drug Testing Index, Montana’s overall rate of employees testing positive for meth fell more than 70 percent between 2005 and 2006 — the biggest decrease in the country.

Teen use decreased by 38 percent. Lastly, information reported to the Montana Board of Crime Control showed that meth-related crime dropped 53 percent in 2006.

Of course, prevention is only one part of the solution — but it is an integral part. By preventing first-time use, the demand for treatment is eased, as is the burden on our prison system.

Additionally, thanks in part to the increased awareness the Montana Meth Project has brought to the issue, funding for treatment programs and other solutions has also increased, allowing Montana to take an effective, multipronged approach to combating meth use.

The Montana Meth Project seeks to eliminate the problem before it becomes a problem. I think we should all be applauding this innovative, proven approach.

Mike McGrath
Montana State Attorney General
Helena, Mont.