MCCAFFREY: ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN'S SUCCESS GREATER THAN EXPECTED

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- America's anti-drug campaign is succeeding beyond
expectations and has led to a "significant" reduction in marijuana use
among teenagers, the nation's drug czar said Monday.

Barry McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy
said that a report, to be released Monday, would show that fewer teens are
trying drugs thanks to the national advertising campaign.

McCaffrey said he had not expected to see a decline in drug use this
quickly, just one year into the five-year campaign.

President Clinton joined McCaffrey Monday to announce the campaign is being
expanded in an effort to reach more of America's youth and the adults who
influence them.

"If you're a teen-ager or parent it is nearly impossible to avoid seeing or
hearing our anti-drug messages on television or radio several times a
week." said Clinton.

The president said the $1 billion, five-year campaign would outdo the
promotion of the latest installment in Hollywood's "Star Wars" series. It
is designed to educate the nation's youth on the dangers of drugs and will
appear on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, bus
stops, subway cars, movie screens and video games.

The program will be in the nation's classrooms through materials provided
to teachers and it will be part of after-school activities through
organizations such as the YMCA.

"We're trying to be where the young kids are," said McCaffrey.

The anti-drug ads were launched more than a year ago and target youths ages
nine through 18, as well as parents, teachers, coaches and mentors.
Altogether, the campaign consists of 82 different ads presented on
everything from television and radio to school book covers and the Internet.

McCaffrey's agency is trying to influence youngsters, not only by the
persuasiveness of their message, but by the frequency of it. Officials hope
90 percent of the nation's teens would see four anti-drug messages a week.

In one of the most memorable television ads to date, a girl angrily smashes
a kitchen counter with a frying pan to demonstrate the destructive nature
of drugs. Sixty-six percent of teens surveyed recalled seeing that ad.

McCaffrey said the ads have changed attitudes toward drug use. "The
percentage of youth who said they were scared of taking drugs increased
during the... evaluation period," he said. "Teens said that the four ads
targeted to their age group made them less likely to try or use drugs."

Clinton said the program has exceeded expectations.

"We expected the ads would greatly increase awareness," Clinton said. "What
we didn't expect was that the ads would already have a measurable effect on
attitudes. This is a very good sign. What it proves is, I suppose, what we
should have known all along, that if advertising works in commerce and
advertising works in politics, advertising ought to work on this issue as
well."