Efforts to combat Georgia’s growing meth problem are showing success. Now, officials are stepping-up a multi-pronged campaign to keep the momentum going.

The Georgia Meth Project says 54 percent of the state’s teens now see “great risk” in trying methamphetamine. That’s a percentage jump of 11 points in the last year.

The non-profit has aired TV and radio ads depicting the graphic effects of using meth. And the campaign’s sent officials and volunteers into dozens of schools statewide.

The Meth Project’s Jim Langford says phase-two of the campaign will get going soon. He says it’ll have edgier ads, and get more personal with who talks to kids in the schools.

“We’ve been recruiting a large number of teens as well, because teens talking to other teens is a far more effective way of getting our campaign message out.”

Langford says they want to target another 200 more schools - with more focus on northwest Georgia and metro Atlanta.

He estimates meth use in Georgia costs the state $1.3 billion a year in medical and incarceration expenses, and lost productivity.

Tags: Georgia, Georgia Meth Project, meth use, anti-meth campaign, drug use