In an effort to educate Arizona residents about the horrible impact methamphetamine has on people, lives and our community, a 30-minute documentary, "Crystal Darkness," was shown Tuesday on virtually every television station across our state.

Arizona's war on meth: What about all the other drugs?

"Crystal Darkness" organizers hoped the effort would initiate conversations about meth and encourage current and former meth users to seek treatment.

The program, which has already aired in eight other markets in the Southwest as well as Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, was especially relevant in Arizona.

According to the 2006 Arizona Youth Survey, 4.3 percent of Arizona's youth ages 13 to 17 have tried meth - significantly higher than the national average. Not only that, but meth is the No. 1 crime problem in Arizona with 75 percent of property and violent crimes and 65 percent of child abuse cases linked to meth use.

While we applaud the efforts of "Crystal Darkness" to shed a necessary light on meth use in Arizona, a long-term public awareness effort in our state is needed. In fact, such an effort was identified as a key missing component by the Governor's Methamphetamine Task Force.

Soon after that recommendation, the Arizona Meth Project was started to provide a public education and awareness campaign focused on stopping first-time meth use among Arizona's teens and young adults.

Through various outreach efforts over the past 12 months - including the Not Even Once Summer Youth Pledge where young people across the state pledged never to try meth, the Not Even Once Meth Poster contest and our participation in the KASW-TV (Channel 61) documentary "Descent Into Meth" - we have reached tens of thousands of young Arizonans.

Our ongoing prevention and education campaign is a cost-effective way to curtail use. In fact, our anti-meth campaign has shown incredible results in Montana, where it was first launched in 2005. There, meth use among teens has declined by 45 percent, meth-related crime has dropped 62 percent, and workers testing positive for meth have declined by 72 percent - the largest drop in the country.

And the public is taking notice. Among the more than 600 e-mail messages and hundreds of phone calls that have poured into the Arizona Meth Project are some very poignant and personal accounts. One young woman, who admits that her brother is a meth addict, wrote in an e-mail, "I don't want to just be another voice that says something needs to be done.

I need to get out there and do something about it." In another e-mail, a mother writes, "I love the fact that you are using cold, hard facts about this drug! You are not sugar coating anything ... My kids are now scared to death of this drug and we have talked more about drugs in these last few weeks than we ever have. I only have you to thank for that."

Although we continue to receive positive feedback from the community regarding the Arizona Meth Project's efforts, we have come to a point where we need the public's help in order to continue the project's good work.

We are currently appealing to the public for donations so that we can show the third phase of advertising, which will demonstrate how an individual's meth habit affects the people around them - their friends and families.

While the first two phases of ads showed the physical effects of meth use - rotting teeth, bloody scabs and a trip to the hospital emergency room - the third phase shows how meth destroys the relationships with friends and loved ones.

From the young man who pimps out his girlfriend for drug money to an enraged addict stealing from his mother's wallet and slapping her across the face, these graphic and heart-wrenching images underscore the fact that meth destroys many lives - not just the life of the user.

If these messages are to continue to be heard across Arizona on every medium available, the Arizona Meth Project must raise $2.5 million. Currently, we have raised about 10 percent of the funds needed for the next phase of ads. We are thankful to the businesses and organizations for stepping forward and recognizing the need for the Arizona Meth Project to continue its work.

But we need more.

We have made it easy for anyone to donate - go to www.arizonamethproject.org and click on the "Take Action" tab, which will direct you to the donations page. Together, we can make a huge difference and overcome the state's meth crisis.

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Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Maricopa County Supervisor Don Stapley are co-chairmen of the Arizona Meth Project.