U.S. LOSING/WINNING DRUG WAR

The struggle to wage an effective war on drugs will continue after
government officials recently discovered that their recent $1.4
billion antidrug campaign failed to lure teenagers away from the
illegal substances.

However, a different federal study reported that illicit drug use had
fallen among those between the ages of 12 and 17 - the demographic
group much of the media campaign targeted.

The Government Accountability Office announced Aug. 25 that the failed
campaign, which has aired since 1998, did not help reduce drug use. In
some cases, the program may have actually persuaded youths that the
use of illegal drugs is considered normal.

The government-backed crusade - which purchased TV time slots and
radio ads that featured the slogan "the antidrug" - were memorable to
both parents and youth, but the ads did not change adolescents'
attitudes about drugs, according to a University of Pennsylvania study
that used the GAO's findings.

UI freshman Tom Flood said the media campaign had no effect on him.

"It's a personal decision to use drugs, and no commercial is going to
change my mind," he said, adding that he and his friends often laughed
at the ads because he said they were unrealistic.

But data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, a
branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, show teen
drug use may be slowing down.

The rate of illicit drug use has moved consistently downward since
2002, according to the report. Only 9.9 percent of those between the
ages of 12 and 17 used drugs in 2005, compared with 10.6 percent in
2004 and 11.2 percent in 2003, officials reported.

Sarah Hansen, the UI Student Health Service associate director for
education and Health Iowa program coordinator, lauded the number of
drug-awareness opportunities on campus.

"Health Iowa provides a continuum of services from education to
substance-abuse evaluation, treatment, and care," she said.

The UI offers a drug seminar - a four-hour series attended by 220
students last year - as well as a private substance-abuse evaluation.
Last year, 34 percent more students underwent the private evaluations.
Health Iowa also added a marijuana-information series for low-risk pot
offenders, which 56 students completed in its inaugural year.

The Iowa City police know plenty of people who have had serious - or
at least arrest-worthy - problems.

Police Sgt. Doug Hart said the city's Drug Seizure Report documented
1,517 marijuana-related arrests, 176 for cocaine, 127 for crack
cocaine, and 113 for methamphetamine, so far in 2006.

"Drugs are big in America," said Travis Blanken, a 20-year-old Iowa
City resident and self-proclaimed drug user, who said he only does
drugs for fun and - at times - as a form of stress relief.

"When pro-athletes, such as Jamal Lewis, only get a six-month sentence
for cocaine trafficking, how seriously can we take them?" he joked.

Blanken, who admits he has smoked marijuana, eaten mushrooms, and
taken Ecstasy and opiates, added: Couldn't the $1.4 billion the
government spent on a failed drug campaign have had a larger effect
elsewhere?

"That money could have aided health care, helped countless other
countries, stabilized illegal immigration, or helped to find a new
energy source, but, instead, it went down the toilet," he said.