Thierry Wood said she was devastated when she called police in 2007 to arrest her 14-year-old daughter, Nina, whose behavior had become erratic and violent because of her methamphetamine addiction.

"It was really difficult, but there wasn’t anything else I could do because she just stopped listening to me," Wood, 53, of Kahaluu, told a hushed audience Thursday in the gym of the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility in Kailua.

Wood and her daughter were among the speakers at a news conference at which the Hawaii Meth Project unveiled its latest TV spots and a survey indicating that young people are becoming more aware of the dangers of methamphetamine use.

"Our young people better understand the dangers associated with meth use and are now less likely to try the drug," said Dr. Kevin Kunz, a Kailua-Kona physician and president of the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

Nina Wood, now 18, told the audience Thursday that she ran away from home at age 14 and used meth for the first time.

"I had no money, so I’d be gone all day, every day, trying to get a fix," she said. "I stole things and lied. I took out my resentments on my family. I yelled, slammed doors, punched walls and just wanted to be left alone."

The meth took a toll on her body. Her kidneys and liver were damaged, she was bleeding internally and her hair was starting to thin.

Early this year she was given the choice of going to the youth prison or to the Bobby Benson Center, a substance-abuse treatment center for teenagers in Kahuku. She chose treatment, has been drug-free for nearly six months and is scheduled to be released from the center this month.

"Drugs use to come before everything else, but now I realize there’s a lot more out there," said Nina, who cried as she told her story. "I’m working toward putting my life back together."

Isaac Kinney, 15, wore an orange prison jumpsuit as he spoke of his struggle with meth. The HYCF inmate said he took his first hit of meth when he was 13.

"I was watching all my friends do it, and they were like, ‘Come on, just try it,’ and I just did it," said Kinney, who is from Kauai. "

Kinney said he broke into homes, stole laptops and purses and traded them in for meth or cash. He is serving time for burglary and will be released when he’s 18.

"I wish I never did it, but what’s done is done," said Kinney, whose voice is among those in the Hawaii Meth Project’s new radio ads.

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To see the new ads and survey results, go to www.hawaii-methproject.org.