ANTI-DRUG ADS CAN LEAD TO INCREASED DRUG USAGE: PROFESSOR

WINNIPEG - An American researcher visiting Winnipeg Wednesday said U.S.
anti-drug campaigns can actually make more kids try drugs.

Martin Fishbein reached his conclusion after asking youths across the
United States about the effectiveness of anti-drug commercials, such as
"Just Say No" and "The Anti-Drug."

Fishbein, a professor of communications at the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia, said the ads can make kids more interested in trying
marijuana and other drugs.

"The more kids are being exposed to these ads, the more prevalent they
think drug use is," said Fishbein.

"And the more they think that other people are using drugs, the more they
think they should be using it too, and the more they intend to use them,"
he said.

Laura Gossen of the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba said the anti-drug
media campaigns do have their pitfalls.

She said drug prevention programs should have more than a simple
catchphrase in order to work.

"We would argue that just simply taking an 'Anti-drug' or a 'Just Say No'
approach does not, in fact, work with everybody," said Gossen.

"We know that. So we have to do more than that," she said.

Gossen says parents talking with their children about drugs and peer
pressure are among the best ways to address concerns about drug use.