ANTI-DRUG ADS REACH YOUNGSTERS

Aug. 9 - DARE Colorado, the charter organization of the DARE programs
and DARE-related activities within Colorado, supports President
Clinton's anti-drug advertising campaign.

Our organization is about educating our youth to realize a better
future, guiding them to achieve their greatest potential through
assisting them to resist the devastating effects of drugs (and
violence).

Thus we are about supporting those advocacies aligned with our purpose,
our mission. In every respect, it appears that the administration's
anti-drug efforts are about educating our nation's youth to fear drugs,
to understand that drug use is not healthy for the body, for the mind,
for their best futures.

While DARE educates youth in drug prevention through trained law
enforcement officers in the classrooms across our state, our country's
highest official has elected to educate our youth through a bold,
innovative and relevant anti-drug marketing and advertising effort
across our nation.

Different venues. Different strategies. Similar goals and objectives.

In common, both approaches are about what DARE stands for - Drug Abuse
Resistance Education.

Harshly stated, the enemy is drugs - the manufacturing, distribution,
the use of any or all illicit and illegal substances that are
mind-altering, health-punishing and, most likely, death-resulting.

While it is proven that the DARE programs lower the risk of our youth to
use drugs (one of numerous valid surveys is the Ohio State University
Study,

1995), our organization is merely one of many societal entities
essential in the battle to help save our youth from drug use.

Others include parents, friends, institutions of faith, schools, local
governments, even businesses, corporations and community organizations.
They all need to rally together with a consistent and strong message of
"drugs can kill,'' as so dramatically stated in the Clinton antidrug
advertising campaign.

As a retired advertising executive, I know a little about the powerful
impact of a powerful message on the most powerful persuasive medium ever
invented - television. It works! Look at Nike, McDonald's, Kmart. The
bulk of their

advertising dollars are spent on television. In today's society, our
monitor-faced kids thrive on this entertainment medium, albeit not
always for the best of reasons.

Now if we could only convince the election-year politicians to swap
their TV commercials for truly genuine educational opportunities - like
creating programs that demonstrate to our youth how to lead better lives
or, better yet, how parents can lovingly teach their kids about the
"nowheresville'' of drugs.

I applaud the masterminds of the antidrug advertising campaign for
understanding that there is no guarantee that the targeted school-age
viewers will be persuaded to resist the use of drugs.

Our nation's freedom of choice philosophy is hard at work here. The DARE

programs encourage positive habits, inviting the DARE kids to make
"choices'' on how they wish to act out their lives.

Similarly, the anti-drug advertising messages don't governmentally
mandate choices or decisions. They eloquently paint a realistic picture
of drug-use. Then it's the viewers option to be influenced. But the $2
billion to be invested in this advertising campaign (including $1
billion from the private sector) is larger than the media expenditures
of American Express, Sprint or even Nike.

The $1 billion that the government intends to spend on this five-year ad
campaign is a mere 1.7 percent of the total U.S. expenditures on illicit
drugs in 1995. These illegal drug expenditures have deprived our nation
of a stronger workforce, a more harmonious family environment and, in
essence, a healthier, more resilient and persevering citizenry.

Closer to home, the national advertising effort received a positive
response from Denver Police Officer Angela Romero, who said, "I'm in
favor of any

type of education that teaches our school children to make the right
decisions about the harm that drugs can bring to their lives.''

Kathy Spenard, a teacher at Sherrelwood Elementary in Adams County,
agreed. "The TV messages reach kids. They are graphic and poignant,
planting seeds that the kids can refer back to in conversations with
their friends, parents, grandparents and teachers about drug
prevention.''

Earlier this year, the anti-drug ad campaign was introduced at Denver's
Gove Middle School. The nation's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, spoke to an
auditorium full of school kids about the ravages of drug use while
playing several of the campaign's television commercials.

The reaction was genuine. The response was heartwarming. In addition,
the on-stage participants included state and local politicians such as
Gov. Roy Romer, Denver Manager of Safety Butch Montoya, District
Attorney Bill Ritter, law enforcement officials including Denver Police
Chief David Michaud, Denver Director of Corrections John Simonet,
Douglas County Sheriff Steve Zotos, Adams County Sheriff Bill Shearer,
as well as parents, educators, business leaders, even the Broncos' Billy
Thompson.

The message was loud and clear - we need to work together to be
victorious in the war against drugs. Aside from community synergy, the
message is also about choices. Turn the TV on or turn it off. Be
intelligently informed by a newspaper article or turn the page. Choose
to get involved in your children's lives early on or pay the
consequences if you don't.

In the end, DARE Colorado believes that community collaboration and
choices are both personal and leadership opportunities that make a great
deal of sense. They both underscore the strong beliefs about America's
commitment to doing what is right. And if using the great American
invention - the television - will amplify that which is right for our
country's welfare - especially our youth - then we're all for it.

And turn up the volume!

Russ Ahrens is executive director of DARE Colorado Inc.

Checked-by: willtoo