MOVIES' DEPICTION OF DRUG USE SCORED

WASHINGTON -- A $400,000 study commissioned by the White House found that
almost all movies and more than one-fourth of popular music lyrics depicted
the use of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs.

White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey yesterday urged the entertainment
industry to tie consequences to addictive behavior and show drugs as
unglamorous, dangerous and socially unacceptable.

The study reviewed the content of the 200 top movie rentals and 1,000 of the
most popular songs, including country and western, alternative rock,
mainstream, rap and heavy metal. It concluded that 98 percent of movies and
27 percent of music lyrics depicted the use of potentially addictive
substances.

McCaffrey stressed that alcohol and drugs were a part of American life, and
did not call for their elimination, saying their realistic use should remain
part of the nation's art. He emphasized the need for "collaboration" with
the creative community. He said the government did not seek to "dictate the
message" on drug use.

But McCaffrey also said drug abuse should not be portrayed as humorous.

Rich Taylor, spokesman for the Motion Picture Association of America, said
he would have no comment.

The Recording Industry Association of America said it was grateful that
McCaffrey "recognized the efforts already under way by the music industry to
be part of the solution to the national problem of teen substance abuse."

But critics rushed to condemn findings from the study, ordered and paid for
by President Clinton's Office of National Drug Control Policy, which
McCaffrey directs, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Critics
said the White House should not be engaging in "official government
criticism" of artistic content.

Eric Sterling, who was Democratic counsel in the 1980s to the House
Judiciary Committee, which oversees national drug policy, said: "We should
be drawing distinctions between criticisms of art and culture from private
organizations and from people with law enforcement and regulatory power and
a highly politicized economic power.

Sterling, now president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, which
advocates more federal money for drug prevention and treatment programs,
said the White House was subtly threatening the entertainment industry.

He questioned the study's validity, saying that deciding the nature of
artistic messages was "profoundly subjective." And he said no valid
comparisons could be drawn to film and music content from decades ago.

Alcohol and tobacco use by adults is both lawful and commonplace, he added,
wondering how a film could show effects from legal behavior.

"With cigarettes, if you don't show the house burning down or somebody
coughing or wheezing, you haven't shown any consequences," Sterling said.

Scott Ehlers, senior policy analyst with the Drug Policy Foundation, said,
"The general feeling I came away with is, the White House and . . .
McCaffrey are looking for the entertainment industry to produce a
whitewashed version of reality."

His group, which includes Ira Glasser of the American Civil Liberties Union
and former Surgeon General M. Joycelyn Elders, criticizes the
administration's drug control strategy as too focused on law enforcement
instead of prevention and treatment.

Ehlers said the study was "probably not" worth the money it cost.

Among the study's findings:

Drugs show up in 22 percent of movies but alcohol appears in 93 percent of
movies and tobacco is shown in 89 percent of movies. In contrast, alcohol
and drugs appear in less than 20 percent of songs; tobacco shows up in only
3 percent.

Illegal drugs were associated with wealth or luxury in 15 percent of movies
and 20 percent of songs. There were no consequences to the illicit drug user
in 52 percent of movies and 81 percent of songs.

Among major adult characters in films, 5 percent used illicit drugs, 25
percent smoked, 65 percent consumed alcohol, and 5 percent used other
substances.

Even in G or PG-rated movies, tobacco and alcohol use was high, at 79
percent and 76 percent, respectively.