GEN. MCCAFFREY SEEKS AN OSCAR

White House Drug Czar Moves To Manipulate Hollywood By Inserting Government
Propaganda In Motion Pictures

The vast wasteland of network television shows came to public attention
recently as a hitherto unnoticed battlefield in the federal government's war
on drugs.

People concerned about secret, financially fueled influences on that
entertainment medium were not amused to learn that the White House's
National Office of Drug Control Policy was using taxpayer-provided
advertising funds to manipulate TV people into larding their story lines
with anti-drug themes.

In some instances, the federal narcs were a quiet part of TV's pre-broadcast
creative process, approving the suitability of fictional elements showing
dangers of drug abuse. In this role, the White House office reviewed scores
of episodes prepared for all the major networks, awarding credit for what it
deemed to be positive drug messages in 109 programs. The feds sometimes
suggested changes upon previewing planned episodes.

People were still digesting that involvement of the administration's drug
office as a partner in commercial TV entertainment when it was revealed that
several magazines and newspapers had been enlisted in similar deals to
include anti-drug messages in articles, thus meeting federal requirements
for matching government outlays for advertising.

Now Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who heads the White House office, aims to inspire
high-impact anti-drug publicity on the big screen. It is not clear how or
whether federal dollars might be used to induce Hollywood to do the right
thing. The drug czar told a congressional panel that his office "will
continue our efforts through workshops, briefings, round tables and
one-on-one conversations with (movie) industry leaders."

McCaffrey's energy in warning young people about the insidious dangers of
illicit drugs is admirable -- although when it comes from government it may
be about as effective as the old reefer madness films. But it's time for
Congress to use its purse-strings to pull the general back from his attempt
to be a behind-the-scenes player in major entertainment and news media, and
get him to stick to forthright advocacy of his positions on drug use and
enforcement.

The First Amendment is for the rest of us to use. Free speech is not
available for loan or rent to the government, especially when the G-men are
dealing in subterfuge. What kind of freedom is it when the feds secretly
tell the free-speech practitioner what to say?