Friday, April 07, 2006

Methamphetamine Scare and Shock Communication in the USA

As I drove to work the other day, I stopped at a red light and observed a sad couple at a bus stop. The couple looked ragged. Teeth were missing, faces sucked in and they appeared just about used up. Both held a 32 ounce Big Gulp in their hands, it was 6:30 A.M! Had meth stolen their souls?

My mind wandered back to an article I was reading in a People magazine while waiting for an appointment. Although this magazine is not my magazine of choice, the meth epidemic is scary and real. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure echoed through my brain. I thought about the before and after pictures of the crystal meth users in People Magazine. Talk about scary! I remembered my junk mail, representing “missing people” on flyers and the computer enhanced aged pictures of children abducted when they were three and now appeared to be seven. I then thought about morphing software. How can we use technology to help reduce the number of new drug users?

Almost everyone should agree the soundest policy to find a way to prevent young people from getting started on crystal meth is to show them what they will look like in ten years. Methamphetamine will make you appear to be all used up and much older than you are.

Okay! Here is my idea. Someone out there needs to create morphing software that will take a middle school students picture, then morph them out 10 years. Afterwards, they morph the picture again to show what they will look like if they use meth. Have all the students hang this picture of themselves in their lockers. Look at that beauty everyday. Is the risk worth the crime? There are enough struggles in life without compounded the issues with becoming brain washed and abused. How many young teens are willing to risk becoming less beautiful; teens are hyper-sensitive? For example, the world appears to end as huge crocodile tears drain from their eyes when a zit pops out on their face. Just scream no! Keep off drugs.

It seems a little late for the bus-stop-duo, but it is not too late for you! Step up to the plate people, parents, schools, employers, and government. Individuals like to see how issues impact them! Today’s young U.S. culture singing a cultural faux pas, “What have you done for me lately?”

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