The Seattle Times Says
That Congress Should Reject
Clinton And Gingrich’s "Shameless Use Of The Media."
See
Seattle Paper Endorses Medical
Marijuana Initiative: "A Better Approach"
and
The Media Switch From
Promiscuity To Prostitution.
Program Content To Reflect Prohibitionist Party Line To Get Government Ads
From the Seattle Times
opinion@seatimes.com http://www.seattletimes.com/
July 13, 1998
BRAINS ON DRUGS
THE advertising industry’s newest clients are American
taxpayers, who may be forced to pay $1 billion over the next five years for a federal
anti-drug ad campaign with dubious effectiveness.
President Clinton and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich want to expand this
year’s $200 million anti-drug media campaign into a five-year, $1 billion
taxpayer-financed extravaganza. If Congress approves it, the campaign will be the federal
government’s most ambitious media blitz in history.
Never mind that the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a pro bono coalition of ad
agencies and media companies, has been doing just fine without taxpayers. The Partnership
drums up $840,000 a day, or $307 million a year, in free media air time or space - nearly
as much as Coca-Cola spends. The industry doubtless is thrilled to have a client with a
bottomless bank account for prime-time ads.
Never mind that studies have shown the impact of anti-drug
messages on teenagers to be inconclusive at best, and negative at worst. Numerous
psychological studies have suggested that at-risk youth - often thrill-seekers with
authority issues - think more favorably of drugs when they hear official anti-drug
messages. Indeed, the nation’s most heavily financed drug education program for
children, called DARE, is under fire for having no impact on drug use, and possibly
increasing marijuana use.
See
Is DARE A Failure? That Depends
On How You Define Its Objectives; It Is Very Successful For the Narks
and
Houston Police Defend
DARE, Libel NORML, Saying "They want kids to use drugs recreationally."
and links
Law-enforcement agencies have been begging local, state and federal governments
to better finance after-school programs, which are successful in keeping kids out of
trouble. Congress should support prevention and reject Clinton and
Gingrich’s proposal - an unsubstantive and shameless use of the media.
Copyright © 1998 The Seattle Times Company
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