THE DRUG WAR'S BAD ADS

The U.S. Senate this week has a chance to end or reduce one of the more
wasteful programs the federal government conducts. Tucked in a wide-ranging
appropriation bill is an administration request for $170 million for the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to continue its National
Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. This boondoggle richly deserves to be ended.

You are probably familiar with those annoying ads that dramatize the
dangers of illicit drugs. The best evidence is that the ads have no effect
on drug use.

The relevant Senate committee - Transportation, Treasury and General
Government - has recognized this already. It noted earlier this year: "When
this program was initially funded by the Congress in fiscal year 1998, it
was with the understanding that within three years there would be
demonstrable behavior changes in America's youth with relation to drug use.
The committee is concerned that drug use is increasing in spite of the
national media campaign, leading some observers to conclude it has not had
a noticeable impact on drug use among America' youth."

That puts it all too kindly. The program has been a disaster.

According to the Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE)
survey in September, past-year use of marijuana was up among all youngsters
in grades 6 through 12, except for a 0.1 percentage-point decline among
10th-graders. Both annual and past-month use of cocaine, heroin and
methamphetamine has increased markedly.

This can't all be blamed on the "drug czar's" media campaign, of course.
But an independent evaluation of the program by the University of
Pennsylvania and the research firm Westat found "no evidence" of any
positive impact and preliminary signs that the program actually encouraged
teen-agers to try drugs.

The Senate should just end this boondoggle immediately.