ANTI-DRUG MESSAGES THAT WORK

RALEIGH -- If you had any doubt about the presence of the Ecstasy
drug problem in North Carolina, take a look at what's happening down
the road in Charlotte. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
says it's implementing the licensing of dance halls to protect kids
from activities associated with "raves," specifically, the sale,
possession and use of illegal drugs.

Generally, if you're talking about drugs at a rave, you're talking
about Ecstasy. Unfortunately, licensing clubs won't make the problem
go away, not in North Carolina or anywhere else. A report from the
Office of National Drug Control Policy says that Ecstasy has moved
beyond the clubs into our schools and onto our streets. Combine that
with the fact that the number of teenagers who have tried the drug
has doubled in the past five years and there's no doubt that Ecstasy
is a drug we need to be concerned about.

Unfortunately, it's far from the only one -- the average youngster
has been offered drugs by age 12, and roughly one out of every four
teenagers has used an illegal drug in the past month.

So, how much would you be willing to pay for information that could
convince your child to stay off Ecstasy and other illegal drugs? For
parents, there's no way to put a price on this. But the federal
government has: less than $8 per teenager per year -- and it's been
money well spent.

After years of steady increases, teen drug use has declined since
1998. Teen attitudes about drugs have changed markedly for the
better, suggesting even greater declines in drug use to come.
Something good is happening.

In 1998, the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign was launched
with bi-partisan support from Congress. Unlike anything before it,
this program uses federal funds to buy prime broadcast time and print
space for anti-drug ads created by the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America. Historically, such efforts had to beg media companies to run
anti-drug ads for free. Now they're paid to run them, guaranteeing
consistent exposure in the right media to deliver these messages to
kids.

Ads in the campaign are created by some of the best minds in
advertising. The same people who sell sneakers and jeans through
advertising are using their creativity to persuade kids to reject
drugs -- and it's working. Research published in the American Journal
of Public Health found teenagers exposed to heavy doses of anti-drug
ads are 26.7 percent less likely to use marijuana.

This year, Congress allocated $185 million -- about 1 percent of the
federal anti-drug budget -- to the Office of National Drug Control
Policy to administer the campaign. With 23.6 million teenagers in
America, the cost is just $7.84 per teenager to consistently deliver
anti-drug messages. Given the results, it's fair to call this the
most cost-effective investment our government has ever made to
prevent drug abuse.

Since the launch of the advertising campaign, an estimated 1 million
fewer young people have tried marijuana. No one can say the campaign
is solely responsible for this dramatic change, but it's clear the
ads are getting through to kids: Exposure to more anti-drug ads
correlates with stronger anti-drug attitudes. For example, 63 percent
of teenagers who report seeing anti-drug ads every day believe
marijuana use will make their problems worse; only 56 percent of
those who see the ads less than once a week say the same thing.

While congressional funding for the effort has stayed constant since
1998, media inflation has increased the cost of placing an ad by as
much as 45 percent. To keep anti-drug messages in the media with the
same level of impact, to counter inflation and mount a major ad
campaign addressing the rise in Ecstasy use, more funding is needed.

While many are clamoring for tax cuts, the public is solidly behind
this program: 83 percent of Americans say Congress should keep the
current level of funding for the campaign. Nearly half -- 45 percent
- -- say it's a good idea to invest even more. Americans may want a
hefty tax cut, but not at the expense of protecting their kids.

Like the licensing of dance clubs, anti-drug ads alone won't solve
the drug problem. The entire community needs to get the message to
kids about the risks and dangers of drugs. But $8 a year per teenager
can go a long way if it continues to tap into the enormous influence
that mass media have on teens. Ten dollars can go even farther.