JURY IS OUT ON $1 BILLION ANTI-DRUG EFFORT

Once again, Washington politicians have shown skill at spending money and
announcing it with great fanfare. But whether the "hard-hitting" $195
million anti-drug campaign announced by President Clinton and House Speaker
Newt Gingrich this week will have as skillful an impact on young people's
appetites for drugs remains to be seen. Gingrich said he would try to get
Congress to stoke the effort up to $1 billion over five years.

The problem is painfully clear. In a 1997 national survey, half of high
school seniors and nearly one-third of eighth-graders reported using drugs.

But whether young, high minds can be won by the hype is a serious question.
And why, critics have asked, isn't alcohol abuse included in the messages.

Supporters say it could be three years before the campaign's results may be
known.

"These ads were designed to knock America upside the head and get America's
attention and empower all of you," said Clinton to a group of youths. Give
him an A for having the ad man's pitch nailed.