Events Leading to National Meth Awareness Day

Friday is National Meth Awareness Day, but efforts to raise awareness about the impacts of the illicit drug have been ongoing for months and will continue into the New Year.

A “White Out Meth” rally held at Waiakea High School included games, trivia and a photo booth. The event held last week also featured a pledge and mural which will be shown at the “Take a Stand Against Meth” art display at the state Capitol from Jan. 8 to March 22 and after that at Honolulu Hale.

The art display will also feature an ongoing art contest for all Hawaii teens ages 13 to 18. The winner will receive an Apple iPad, with an iPod touch going to second place and also the “people’s choice” winner.

A Waiakea High School student signs an anti-meth pledge in white ink at a recent “White Out Meth” event. Courtesy photo.

The original artwork is to include a “Not Even Once” or other anti-meth them. Submissions will be accepted through Dec. 10.

Entries can be submitted through the Hawaii page of the Meth Project Foundation at www.facebook.com/hawaiimethproject, which also includes application instructions.

The Meth Project Foundation was founded in 2005 by businessman Thomas Siebel in response to the growing US meth epidemic. Its website contains information about the drug, including answers to commonly asked questions, news articles about its devastating effects and ways teens and adults can take action to stop its use and spread.

The Hawaii Police Department recently invited Big Island intermediate school students to take part in a competition to create a pledge against the use of the highly addictive drug also known as “ice.”