WINSTON-SALEM – Methamphetamine is a toxic, dangerous and potentially deadly drug that is infiltrating North Carolina.

“I think we have to consider this a community wide problem and one that we've got to attack at all levels," said Attorney General Roy Cooper.

Taking note, the Attorney General's Office alongside the Winston-Salem Police Department is launching a new program called Meth360. The initiative is designed to raise awareness about meth and reduce the community's demand for it.

“It brings together law enforcement officers as well as substance abuse prevention and treatment folks to co-deliver these presentations and try and bring it down to the communities," said Robin Lindner with the Partnership for a Drug-Free NC.

Law enforcement officers say meth isn't a very prevalent problem in Winston-Salem currently. Officers have yet to make a big lab bust within city limits. They mainly arrest people who have meth within their possession. But the department says it wants to be on the forefront of prevention.

“Demand has been established, the supply will follow it. Instead of just looking in our own back yards we're watching our neighborhoods, our next state, our counties,” said Chief Scott Cunningham with the Winston-Salem Police Department.

The closest meth lab bust to Winston-Salem in recent memory was at an apartment complex in Clemmons back in March.

According to the State Bureau of Investigation, almost 50 percent of North Carolina's meth labs are located in Harnett and Sampson counties.

Taking those numbers into consideration elevates the importance of this new program for Chief Cunningham.

“We want to stop it before it becomes a severe problem. If we had done that in other cases, we might not be in the situation that we are in today," he added.

Winston-Salem is the second place in North Carolina to test the Meth360 program.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department piloted the program in the beginning of this year.