Goddard urges continued meth fight

Whether it be identity theft, elder abuse or even violent crime, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard says much of what law enforcement battles every day ties back to methamphetamine so state and local efforts must continue to curb its use.

While in Yuma Monday, Goddard thanked the Yuma County Board of Supervisors for their part in funding the Arizona Meth Project and has high hopes that the media blitz can reduce use of the drug in the state. Sixty-five to 70 percent of crime in the state is related to meth, according to Goddard, so the AMP will focus its message of "Not Even Once" to try to keep people from experimenting with the highly-addictive drug.

"This is not something we trivialize. It's just too serious and the impacts are too deadly," he said.

The ads, which begin running April 18, will be in print, on television, on radio and on the Web. They are aimed at junior high and high-school students, young adults ages 18 to 24 and parents.

The ads are gritty and do not put a nice face on meth. A similar campaign in Montana cut teen use by 38 percent, according to the Attorney General's Office.

The county board pledged $120,178 in state monies to the statewide meth campaign despite some criticism here that the money should be kept locally. Nine other counties have joined the program.

Also Monday, Goddard took part in a Shred-a-Thon to help protect people from identity theft by destroying certain personal financial documents. He said a large percentage of identity thieves are meth addicts who are willing to take the time to research for hours and search through trash to find the information they need to take advantage. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Arizona is first in the nation for identity theft complaints per 100,000.

The Shred-a-Thon was held at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Neighborhood Center, 300 S. 13th Ave., which is now a satellite office for the Attorney General's Office. The office will be open on the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

In other business Monday, the supervisors approved a conceptual design for the San Luis, Ariz., branch library and the South County Satellite Office Complex, which are slated to be located on a 10-acre site on Union Street between 6th and 7th avenues. VCBO architects provided schematics for separate buildings and one in which the two facilities would be in the same building. The board chose to have separate buildings.

The Precinct 2 Justice Court, currently in Somerton, would move to the new satellite complex. Offices for other county departments, such as Adult Probation, the Assessor and the Health Department, would also be located in the building.

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Jeffrey Gautreaux can be reached at jgautreaux@yumasun.com or 539-6858.