The new heroin
An information blitz should help

The Office of National Drug Control Policy did not have good news last
month. The market for heroin was up or stable in most areas. Most
alarmingly, an increasing number of young heroin users were reported by
cities far and wide Bridgeport, Conn.; New York; Denver; Chicago;
Trenton, N.J.; San Antonio; San Diego; and Newark, N.J. These young
users were turning to heroin because they mistakenly think it is more
manageable than crack.

But to its credit, the drug czar's office had a prompt response: It will
launch an antidrug media campaign aimed specifically at reversing the
disturbing trend of heroin use by young people.

In its quarterly publication Pulse Check, which tracks the latest drug
abuse trends, the drug czar's office reported that drug use among
eighthgraders has tripled in the last five years. A tripling of drug
use by our youngest teenagers is too frightening for words.

Equally alarming is an increase in the number of teens who don't see
anything wrong or dangerous with using illegal drugs including the
transmission of the HIV virus through sharing heroin needles.

A media campaign may not seem to be a big enough gun to bring down the
number of teens shooting up. But in light of the many prodrug messages
kids receive in almost every form of entertainment, including the
Internet, there must be a major push to counter those messages. A
carefully targeted antidrug media push is a good place to start.

The "Just Say No" campaign of the Reagan administration may have seemed
simplistic and corny. But teenagers couldn't escape the seemingly
everpresent slogan. And remember the fried egg posters saying, "This is
your brain on drugs"? Kids laughed, but knew the "yolk" would be on them
if they experimented with dangerous drugs.

Unfortunately, such antidrug messages have dwindled since 1989. The
public became jaded to the dramatic appeals. The nature of the problem
evolved, but the message did not.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy is hoping to reverse that
trend with $170 million in seed money, which will spike the air waves,
cyberspace and print media with antidrug messages the same way Nike
urges youngsters to "just do it." The key to this campaign will be the
participation by private business, which is being asked to match the
government's investment.

The campaign's goal of reaching 90 percent of all 9 to 17yearolds at
least four times a week seems overly ambitious, given the size of the
country and the problem. But a new beginning is imperative. One more
child lost to drugs is one too many.

No one should assume the federal public service announcements will
suffice. There also should be renewed statewide publicity efforts. When
Ross Perot helped launch the Texas War on Drugs in the 1980s, it
included an extensive multimedia campaign with antidrug messages on
billboards and bumper stickers. It's time to seek private funding for
such visible reminders again.

HBO and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently set a terrific
example with their threepart series Faces of Addiction, which began
airing this summer.

For an even more targeted approach, local service groups and
neighborhood crime watch programs could bring the messages even closer
to home.

A sophisticated, tailored campaign may be essential to setting straight
the youngsters who are using heroin, or thinking about using it. The
sooner the notion is dispelled that heroin's effects are more
abuserfriendly than other drugs, like cocaine, the better.

Youngsters need to know that smoking heroin is addictive, that injecting
heroin can transmit diseases, that withdrawal is painful and that
treatment can last a lifetime. Getting the truth out is the most
effective form of drug prevention. There is no time to lose.

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