FEDERAL DRUG-POLICY GUIDELINES CLARIFIED

The White House drug-policy office has set guidelines to clarify its
arrangement with broadcasters who want government financial credits
for inserting anti-drug messages into their programs.

Under the new rules, the government will not review program episodes
for such credits until after the episodes have aired. The office also
said it would keep separate its process for granting financial credits
from its role in advising networks and producers on how to portray
situations involving drugs.

The office was responding to recent fallout from the disclosure that
the government used financial incentives to get TV networks to include
anti-drug messages into their shows, in some cases even reviewing
scripts before the programs aired.

The new parameters still require a 100 percent match for every dollar
the federal government spends on media outlets and continue to allow
broadcast executives to decide how to meet this requirement.