ABC SPOTLIGHT SCRUTINIZES DRUG ABUSE by DAVID ARMSTRONG
Copyright (c) 1997, The Hearst Corporation

THIS JUST IN: Bill Clinton did inhale. He toked weed up in
the Lincoln bedroom with Jimmy Hoffa, Judge Crater and Deng
Xiaoping. Their connection: The first lady. You don't
believe it, surf the Net to www.errantnonsense.com. OK,
just kidding. For real, though, drugs continue to be a
combustible issue, given the convergence of family values
and "Do as I say, not as I did" Baby Boomer parents.

Thus, we have the "March Against Drugs," airing on
ABCTV, with a little help from ABC's friends at the U.S.
Department of Education, the Reader's Digest Association
and the Partnership for a DrugFree America.

This particular media offensive has been a long march,
indeed. It began March 1 and ends on what ABC rather
gravely calls "DDay" Sunday (7 p.m., KGO / Ch. 7), with an
ABC News "town meeting" moderated by Peter Jennings.

The object of the monthlong churn of public affairs
programs, public service ads, cautionary brochures and
endorsements by ABC stars such as Michael J. Fox is "to get
parents and children talking about drugs," explains Janice
Gretemeyer, ABC's vice president for media relations.

Just turning off the TV would be a good way to start,
but we all know how much trouble America has doing that.
Thus, the hourlong town meeting, which Gretemeyer says will
end with "the studio lights dimming" and silence on ABC's
air. This is when families are supposed to have that heart
to heart. According to Gretemeyer, the seeds of the
campaign were planted last fall when ABC president David
Westin attended a Sun Valley retreat where he heard a
presentation by Partnership for a DrugFree America exec
Jim Burke. An aroused Westin decided to mobilize the media
to just say know.

ABC has logged 215,000 telephone calls on a special 800
number. Most callers have requested copies of a companion
Reader's Digest "family guide" titled "How to Raise
DrugFree Kids" (which KGOTV is sending out locally).

But the campaign also has drawn the ire of druglaw
reformers and advertising critics.

Their beefs: The campaign (especially the ads) ducks
the dangers of legal but lethal alcohol and tobacco; scare
ads don't work, especially among hardtoimpress kids most
at risk for hard drugs; and the ad biz is way hypocritical.

An anticampaign campaign is being spearheaded by
Common Sense for Drug Policy, a 2yearold Falls Church,
Va.based nonprofit organization. Kevin B. Zeese, CSDP's
president and former chief counsel for the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, disses the
media march as "feelgood nonsense." Fumes Zeese: "Clinton
is paralyzed (on drug reform) because of his "I didn't
inhale' thing. He can't do anything without there being
jokes on Letterman and Leno."

Zeese blasts Washington for spending $ 2 on prison for
every $ 1 on prevention. He does credit the Feds for making
"a change in rhetoric away from the drug war analogy to
public health. It's basically admitting the war can't be
won."

Partnership for a DrugFree America disagrees.
Assistant director of publicity Leigh Leventhal says the
New York nonprofit, staffed by former ad industry
executives, has been effective with tough antidrug
messages such as the famous "This is your brain. This is
your brain on drugs (showing a fried egg). Any questions?"

These days, Leventhal says, the Partnership's spots,
done pro bono by top agencies, use humor and rely less on a
harsh " You idiot, don't do this" approach.

As for efficacy, Leventhal fires off faxed studies from
the universities of Michigan and Johns Hopkins saying past
campaigns worked well among middle and highschool
students. James B. Twitchell, author of a new book on
advertising, "Adcult USA," says he sees "a mild irony" in
watching the ad biz, in effect, try to unsell the booze,
smokes and pills it's been pushing for years.

But, as ABC and KGO spokeswomen point out, ads are only
part of the antidrug campaign. The network has devoted
segments on "ABC World News Tonight" and "Good Morning
America" to antidrug news and features. KGO has done
similar segments on local newscasts, as well as
"Marketplace" and "Sundays on Seven," according to
publicity and events director Abbie Hartley.

"Abuse of alcohol and tobacco are enormous concerns, as
is the abuse of pharmaceutical drugs," says Gretemeyer, who
adds that ABC News has scrutinized those substances, too.

Partnership spokeswoman Leventhal stresses that her
organization deplores cigarettes and booze for children.
She adds that the new spots target illegal drugs because
that's where the Partnership feels it can be most
effective.

As Twitchell sees it, all this media firepower could
backfire.

Twitchell, a University of Florida English professor
who has written five books on American popular culture,
observes: "It's the central core of adolescence to subvert
the norm. Having parents say "This is the great unknown,
beware,' is like saying "Here it is, now you know what to
do.' " SPEAKING OF ADVERTISING: The San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission meets this week to
vote on whether to restrict floating billboards on the Bay.
The billboards made waves last summer, after Examiner
reports led the S.F. Board of Supes to ban them from city
waters as visual pollution. The meeting is at 1 p.m.
Thursday, 425 Market St., room 704. ANOTHER DAY, another
spectacle: O.J. Simpson goes, Timothy McVeigh approaches.
Jury selection in the Oklahoma City bombing case starts
Monday, and while courtwatchers and media mavens say there
won't be another trial of the century for another year or
so, 1,700 media credentials have been issued. An Lshaped
media "bullpen" outside the Denver courthouse adjoins an
official interview area. No courtroom cameras this time,
but Court TV and CNN will be nearby. CNBC's "Rivera Live,"
with Geraldo hosting, will profile one of the 168 victims
each night as the trial unfolds. WHOA! We don't get stuff
wrong that often, but when we do . . . Last Dec. 22, I
wrote an On Media item that said two male alternative media
executives in S.F. were being accused, not formally but
verbally, by female staffers of sexual harassment. Not so.

What actually happened was one male exec was accused by
a female exec of verbal intimidation. He took exception to
the accusation. The matter was quietly mediated and an
agreement was worked out. The woman withdrew her
accusation. That's all. The tale got a little twisted in
the original telling. I apologize to all concerned for the
inaccurate specifics. And, waiter, I'll have some crow.
LAUNCHES: Tuesday: Pacifica Radio national callin public
affairs show, "Living Room," hosted by Polk Award winner
Larry Bensky, on KPFA (94.1) FM, weekdays at noon . . .
Thursday: Microsoft's Sidewalk city guide, the premiere
Seattle version. S.F. is due sometime this summer.
Background info at (http: / / sidewalk.com.).