Drug
Warriors Admit Their Propaganda Fails
PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #243
Wed. May 15, 2002
Being a prohibitionist means you never turn your
back on well-funded projects, no matter how dismal the results.
Drug Czar John Walters this week acknowledged that the television
advertising campaign designed to push young viewers away from
drugs has failed. Walters makes his admission at a significant
time, as the ad campaign will soon be considered for refunding
by the US Congress.
Quoted in a Wall Street Journal story, Walters
is ready to fight for the funds, despite poor outcomes. Even though
his colleagues couldn't get it right after spending $929 million
on the program, Walters says that the ads can be improved. He
also talks about more insidious plans to lobby television script
writers for more drug hysteria.
While the story addresses the ad program's failure
as measured by survey, it overlooks many ethical questions raised
by government payments to media outlets. Despite some problems
in the reporting of the story, even the WSJ sees what's going
on: "In effect, Mr. Walters is attempting to spin some otherwise
gloomy news."
Please write to the Wall Street Journal to
ask if legislators are going to throw away another $929 million
for a program that threatens the quality of information about
drugs more than it threatens drug use.
Thanks for your effort and support.
WRITE A LETTER TODAY
It's not what others do it's what YOU do
---------------
PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL
US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.)
Please post a copy your letter or report your action
to the sent letter list (sentlte@mapinc.org)
if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to MGreer@mapinc.org
if you are not subscribed. Your letter will then be forwarded
to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be
motivated to follow suit.
Subscribing to the Sent LTE list (sentlte@mapinc.org)
will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with
new ideas or approaches as well as keeping others aware of your
important writing efforts.
To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list
see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
and/or http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form
This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is one very
effective way of gauging our impact and effectiveness.
-------------------
NEW DRUG CZAR SAYS AD CAMPAIGN AIMED AT
CHILDREN HAS FLOPPED
Vanessa O'Connell- Wall Street Journal
(US)
Tue, 14 May 2002
WASHINGTON - So much for those flashy TV
ads intended to inspire American kids to stay off drugs . The
new U.S. drug czar, John P. Walters, says the government's antidrug
advertising of recent years has failed. Worse, he fears it even
may have inspired some youngsters to experiment with marijuana.
"This campaign isn't reducing drug use,"
said Mr. Walters, who became head of the U.S. Office of National
Drug Control Policy earlier this year.
Mr. Walters was openly critical of the ads
even before taking office, and argued that the advertising effort
was in dire need of an overhaul. Now, he said, he is armed with
survey data that support his suspicions that the campaign hasn't
worked.
The five-year-old antidrug program is unusual
among public-health advertising because it is funded largely by
taxpayers -- $929 million so far -- rather than nonprofit groups
or public service spots that media outlets run free of charge.
Moreover, Congress enacted an unusual law requiring TV networks,
cable outlets, magazines and other media to donate an equal amount
of ad space for each ad purchase, effectively doubling the impact
of the government dollars.
The so-called National Youth Anti-Drug Media
campaign includes more than 212 TV commercials featuring such
performers as the Dixie Chicks and hip-hop singer Mary J. Blige,
as well as actors posing as drug users. The campaign, developed
by some of the best-known agencies on Madison Avenue, was considered
a novel step in public health advertising because it was aimed
directly at kids. ( The ads didn't include the famous "This
is your brain on drugs " commercials, a campaign from a nonprofit
group that no longer is being used. )
snip-
Read Complete Article Here
