Source: Seattle Times (WA) Contact: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Pubdate: 9 Jul 1998 Author: Seattle Times news services. Material from The Associated Press, The Washington Post and Newsday is included in this report. ANTI-DRUG ADS TO BOMBARD AIRWAVES WASHINGTON - Remember that old fried-egg ad with its warning, "This is your brain on drugs"? It's going big time this year, with the federal government spending $195 million - rivaling the annual advertising campaigns of American Express, Nike or Sprint - to plaster the airwaves with anti-drug messages. The ad campaign, a five-year project being given a send-off today in Atlanta by President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, could turn into a $1 billion government investment in stopping teen drug use. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is launching ads on TV, radio and movie screens, in newspapers and magazines, and on the Internet. "If Corporate America uses mass media to sell everything from sneakers to soda, we've got to use the full power of mass media to unsell drugs to children," said Barry McCaffrey, director of the office. Among the ads are a television spot showing a young woman smashing objects in a kitchen to demonstrate the emotional and physical effects of heroin use and a radio spot that chides parents for not talking to their children about the dangers of drug use. McCaffrey said test-marketing has suggested that the ads do in fact stimulate interest in anti-drug efforts, citing such measurements as increased calls to drug hotlines. But the media campaign, which was first promoted by McCaffrey and won bipartisan support in Congress, has drawn criticism from groups that question whether the use of ads has proved sufficiently effective in the past to warrant the increased investment. "For the past 10 years, our nation's kids have been bombarded with anti-drug messages, and it is these same kids who are experimenting with more drugs," said Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Lindesmith Center, a drug-policy research organization funded by financier George Soros, who has supported decriminalizing the medical use of marijuana. "While these ads are well-intended, this money could be better spent on programs that are proven effective in reducing drug use, such as after-school programs and treatment on demand," Nadelmann said. The federal campaign is primarily aimed at middle-school-age adolescents, approximately 11 to 13 years old, because that is the age at which young people form their attitudes toward drug use and are at increased risk of beginning to use illegal drugs. The other major target audience is parents. In the past, groups such as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America depended on donated time and space to run ads. But since 1991, TV networks have slashed the number of public-service ads they run, shifted others to the middle of the night and created their own ads. Congress responded by authorizing the White House to pay for the anti-drug ads. - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski