Missouri ? The nation’s drug czar launched an ad campaign Monday encouraging communities across the country to help in the fight against methamphetamine.

The 30-second public service announcements were introduced on television Monday in Springfield, which leads the nation in illegal meth lab seizures. The ads will run in 22 other cities in coming weeks.

The campaign comes as the Bush administration and many states are stepping up efforts to stop the spread of meth.

The ads warn of the harmful effects of meth labs on communities. Viewers are referred to a Web site, www.drugfree.org/Meth, with information about toxic byproducts, crime, and the plight of the children of meth cookers and addicts.

“The meth problem needs the individual contribution of more citizens in their neighborhoods and their communities,” said John Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.