Thanks for your interest in reviewing the Press Kit – Saving Our Children Campaign – committed to reducing adolescent drug use.
Professional background on our director, Tom Monson:
Tom is an award-winning producer, director, and author.
Over the past two decades, Tom has produced more than forty television shows, educational videos, and acclaimed films dealing with crime prevention, violence prevention, and drug and substance abuse. His IMDB listing illustrates his prolific work.
His company, Tom Monson Productions has been providing multi-media products to thousands of businesses, law enforcement agencies, schools, and government agencies around the world.
He is also a former director of the California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association. He has been an active proponent of crime prevention since the early 1990s. He has authored several books and dozens of informational pamphlets. For more information about his crime prevention programming, go to crimeprevent.com.
He’s given presentations about crime and violence prevention, community watch administration, and drug and substance abuse education/prevention to numerous associations, chambers of commerce, and business groups.
He taught community watch and community involved policing across the US. He has also authored and taught college courses dealing with crime and drug/substance abuse prevention. He was contracted by the Centers for Disease Control to conduct training on violence in the workplace.
In 1992, his son, Matthew was killed by a drunk driver. In an effort to reconcile his son’s death, Monson decided to produce drug and substance abuse programming to prevent this needless tragedy from happening to other families.
Of the numerous awards, including two Tellys, The International Film Award, the one he regards most highly, is the one he received from the Governor of Oregon for his campaign which reduced the number of heroin-related deaths in Oregon, by over fifty percent.
A History of Succes
The campaign was previously named Drug Wars, but due to the misconceptions of many people, he decided to rename the campaign for what it really is, saving our children.
The Oregon Campaign
Oregon Drug Wars Campaign Saves Lives.
Monson’s second campaign was to organize a broadcast of the TV show, One Family’s Battle. It first aired in Southern Oregon on all the local stations, then a year later, it ran on all television stations in the central Oregon television market.
Prior to Monson’s effort, this had never been done before. He convinced all the TV stations to put down their competitive natures and fight the run-away drug problem then.
Produced in 1999, One Family’s Battle tells the story of a healthy young man who becomes addicted to heroin. Told by his surviving sister, the film recounts his journey and how he tried 26 times to get clean. He eventually dies to leave behind broken-hearted loved ones.
The film had a dramatic effect on the number of heroin-related deaths in Oregon. The Oregon State Medical Examiner reported these deaths fell for two straight years resulting in a 52% reduction. (See chart below.)
The broadcasts were promoted with TV ads, radio commercials, newspaper ads, posters, direct mail, and the internet. Discussion guides were also made available to local schools and parents. The promotion and broadcast prompted an immediate outpouring of letters, emails, and intake calls to drug treatment centers beginning the next day.
In typical Monson fashion, when the governor presented him with the award, Monson gave all the credit to his team and the sponsors. He said the broadcasts would not have been possible without them. He said they are real heroes.
Other Campaigns
Monson has conducted other campaigns about Methamphetamine, the dangers of teen drinking, Marijuana, a special about how drugs affect the unborn, and Prescription Drugs.
The last campaign in 2015, was about Synthetic Marijuana – K2 Spice, A Nightmare Without End.
A New Commitment
Witnessing the number of deaths caused by fentanyl, Monson knew he had to get back in the fight, up his game, and take the Saving Our Children Campaign to a new level.
He said, “I know I can make a difference, and not doing anything about it makes me part of the problem?
About Tom Monson
Tom Monson was born and grew up in Southern California.
He attended Alhambra Highschool, Compton College, and Cal State Dominguez Hills. He studied screenwriting at UCLA.
His son, Matthew was killed in 1992 by a drunk driver. Since that time, Tom has dedicated himself to helping educate other children about the dangers of drugs and substance abuse.
His daughter, Sarah, and adopted son, James live in Oregon.
Tom currently lives in Southern California with his wife Linda.
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