DRUGS CAMPAIGN 'TURN 0FF' - P&C

The Federal Government's new anti-drugs campaign would discourage people
from talking to their children rather than spurring them to take action, a
NSW parents group said yesterday.

Included in the Howard Government's $27million national campaign are
confronting television ads featuring images of children being zipped into
body bags.

Parents and Citizens Association of NSW president Beverly Baker said
although the underlying message of the policy was a good one, a fear
campaign would never work.

"It just switches people off and they don't believe it could happen to
them," Ms Baker said.

"It has never worked - making people afraid doesn't resonate, so they
simply ignore it because they don't want to face it."

But she said encouraging families to talk openly about drugs was a good
idea, because young people were too afraid to speak for fear of punishment.

"Self-disclosure should be encouraged, so the underlying message (of the
Government's policy) is absolutely vital," she said.

Reverend Ray Richmond, the head of Sydney's Wayside Chapel, said the
Government's new strategy was unlikely to achieve anything positive.

Rev Richmond said that although the Prime Minister would probably get good
marks for focusing on families, children who were most in need of help were
generally those without families to fall back on.

"The worry is that most people who have drug problems don't have families
to go back to, and that's because of a hardline attitude that encourages
parents to throw kids out," he said.

"There's not an ounce of evidence to indicate that this policy will do
anything but make families feel better about themselves," he said.

The Salvation Army's Major Ken Sanz said the policy was a good initiative
and didn't necessarily ignore addicts without families.

"It's about building up networks, encouraging people to belong to groups
(in the absence of families) - sporting groups, church groups or whatever,"
he said.