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| Drug Control Office Ads Entice Kids To Try Drugs |
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Posted by CN Staff on May 17, 2002 at 08:46:15 PT Fox News Story Source: FoxNews.com 
The government's billion-dollar anti-drug ad campaign is making more kids want to do drugs, a private survey has concluded.The survey, conducted by the private research firm Westat and the University of Pennsylvania, actually charted an increase in drug use among some teen-agers who saw television ads like the one that shows a bunch of kids passing around a marijuana cigarette in the garage of a suburban home á la the Fox television hit That 70's Show. The researchers admit that the correlation between the ads and increased drug use has not been fully established, but the news is enough for National Office of Drug Control Policy Director John P. Walters to want to can the ads and start anew. "We can do ads that can both excite curiosity when they're targeted at too young an age or that suggest everybody's doing it, which undermines what we want in changing behavior. So, we need to make sure we're testing them and we intend to move the campaign to older teens and target it there," Walters told Fox News. ONDCP is also interested in focus-testing the ads before they go out on the air and getting more involved in ad development. Currently, the ads are paid for by the government and developed by the Partnership for a Drug Free America, an anti-drug advocacy group that solicits public relations firms to donate their creativity. As a memory tool, the ads are effective -- 70 percent of the kids surveyed said they recognized the ads. But they don't seem to be doing the job. Of the 12- to 18-year-olds surveyed between September 1999 and December 2001, there was no decline in the number of teens who said they had no intention of trying drugs in the next 12 months. However, of the parents surveyed, 80 percent said they were more inclined to talk with their kids about their social lives and activities. Alan Levitt, manager of the anti-drug media campaign, said, "We're pleased with the impact the campaign is having on parents and having on their behavior in monitoring kids, but it hasn't yet affected their own kids' behavior or attitudes." The ads, which suggest cool alternatives to drug use like skateboarding and playing electric guitar, need to move beyond "the consequences to you of drug use" angle, Walters said, and toward the "idealism of young people" that worked successfully in the new ads that link drug use to funding terrorism. The survey did not include that most recent ad campaign, which began airing during the Superbowl and suggests that teens who buy drugs help pay for terror-related activities. Walters admits that the nearly $1 billion spent on anti-drug messages needs to be better used, and promises to refocus the campaign. Congress is expected soon to consider re-authorizing the $18 billion-per-year ONDCP activities. "We know advertising is powerful," Walters said. "My concern is that we can't just not respond to evidence that it's not working. Now we have the fullest possible evaluation of the early stages of the campaign with this study that shows it's not working. Fix it or end it is our objective." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Newshawk: Nicholas Thimmesch II -- http://www.norml.org/ Related Articles & Web Site: Crossfire Transcripts: Do Drug Ads Work? Groups Says It Warned of Drug Ad Problems Drug Czar Walters' Assertion of Ads' Flop Absurd New Drug Czar Says Ad Campaign has Flopped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #5 posted by Jose Melendez on May 18, 2002 at 05:38:48 PT:
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| from: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n937/a06.html?397 A New Bedford man hired to help parents combat drug abuse in that city's schools resigned yesterday, two days after he was arrested as he allegedly picked up 44 pounds of marijuana shipped from California. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #4 posted by Nicholas Thimmesch on May 17, 2002 at 12:57:00 PT:
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| ...please send more to normlmedia@earthlink.net and thanks!
Nicholas Thimmesch. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #3 posted by Nicholas Thimmesch on May 17, 2002 at 12:53:05 PT:
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| ....to hold the media & ONDCP accountable, morally and for taxpayers' dollars, we submitted the following "Shot & Chaser" (where they illustrate contradicting/conflicting news stories, news release, etc.) to National Journal's HOTLINE today, which they published: WHAT'S NEWS . . .Friday . . . 5/17/2002 . . . 4 pm SHOT . . . "Drug Czar Announces Extension of Ads Linking Drugs, Terror -- Walters Hails 'Most Successful Ads in History of Anti-Drug Media Campaign'" (ONDCP release, 2/26/02). . . . CHASER "Drug Control Office Ads Entice Kids to Try Drugs" (FOXNews.com, 5/15/02). Shot & Chaser courtesy NORML. [E-Mail Alert Sign-Up|Hotline|House Race Hotline|Write Us] Danielle Jones, Editor [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by observer on May 17, 2002 at 12:25:50 PT |
Alan Levitt, manager of the anti-drug media campaign, said, "We're pleased with the impact the [propaganda] campaign is having on parents and having on their behavior . . .Propaganda...serves more to justify ourselves than to convince others; and the more reason we have to feel guilty, the more fervent our propaganda. . . . [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by DdC on May 17, 2002 at 10:22:55 PT |
| The assassins of youth...DARE the FRCn PDFA! http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=105.topic Includes the following articles and company's sponsoring the assassin groups. The war on some drugs they don't sell! Giving teens facts about drug war Students Find Drug Law Has Big Price "Project DARE: No Effects at 10-Year Follow-Up" Analysis of DARE DARE to be Honest DARE doesn't work, study finds CannabisNews DARE Articles & Archives:
The DARE Program and a Parent's Concerns
Study Questions Effectiveness Of DARE
Dare has stranglehold on Drug education! DARE Impaired Just Say No to DARE Jack Griffin anti-DARE Stossel: Drug Program Doesn't Work Partnership for a Drug-Free America Sources of Funding from 1988-91 as extracted from Federal Tax Returns (figures are approximate) by the Washington Hemp Education Network, also from the Los Angeles Times: LIQUOR FIRMS Anheuser-Busch TOBACCO COMPANIES: Brown & Williamson PHARMACEUTICAL FIRMS J. Seward Johnson, Sr. Charitable Trusts $1,100.000 OTHER COMMERCIAL DRUG MANUFACTURERS Perry Drug Stores, Inc. [ Post Comment ] |
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