‘F Meth’: The new $1.6m awareness campaign as meth use continues to soar
The New Zealand government has launched a $1.6 million methamphetamine awareness campaign titled 'F Meth' to address rising drug consumption rates. The campaign aims to reach younger demographics after previous efforts failed to generate significant public engagement.
Why it matters
Public health officials are struggling to curb a record-high surge in methamphetamine use, highlighting the difficulty of creating effective government-funded behavioral change campaigns.
The Government’s new methamphetamine prevention campaign invites you to fill in the blank on the core message to “F Meth”.
It follows record-high weekly consumption of 2 million hits of methamphetamine in April this year, equating to almost 40kg of meth and a social cost of $40 million.
Consumption dropped in the following three months, which might indicate a changing trend. Consumption has risen every July in recent years, but this July it fell.
At the campaign launch at Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira in Porirua this morning, Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey suggested several options for the “F” in “F Meth”, aside from the obvious.
“The ‘F’ is a play on words and will have a range of meanings to different people and communities, including face meth, fight meth, forget meth or be free from meth harm.”
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