DRUG OFFICIAL SEEKS MORE FUNDS FOR ADS

A decline in illegal drug use as reported by teens is largely due to the
government's antidrug media campaign, which deserves support from skeptical
lawmakers, the nation's drug czar said.

"This has had an effect on discouraging drug use," John P. Walters,
director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said of his
agency's media campaign that started in 1998 to reduce drug use among young
people. "They've been skeptical ... but now it's declining."

Some on Capitol Hill have said that the campaign was ineffective. A
government-funded study last year found that the ads were not having the
desired effect.

Partly as a result of that skepticism, funding for the ad campaign has
declined, with Congress providing $145 million this year compared with $195
million in 1998.

But Mr. Walters said the media campaign was retooled to focus more on
marijuana and is working. This could translate into more congressional support.

The ONDCP is being reauthorized by Congress this year, and the bill that
passed the House proposes more than $1 billion for the media campaign
during the next five years. The Senate has yet to consider the bill.

Mr. Walters pointed to the federal 2003 Monitoring the Future survey
released last week showing that the number of teens who reported using
illegal drugs declined 11 percent - or 400,000 teens - during the past two
years. It polled eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders nationwide. Specifically,
marijuana use among teens in all the three grades also declined 11 percent.

Mr. Walters and other researchers attributed the news of declining drug use
to a concerted prevention and intervention effort by government agencies,
parents and community leaders.

Lloyd D. Johnston, a research professor at University of Michigan who
helped conduct the survey, said it's "quite possible" that the campaign has
"had its intended effect," because all three grades polled showed a
significant increase in the perceived risk of marijuana use.

But Bill Piper, associate director of national affairs for the Drug Policy
Alliance, said the ONDCP mainly has been running the antimarijuana ads
because more state and local ballot initiatives are proposing to legalize
marijuana for medicinal use.

"It's not a coincidence that federal officials are increasingly using
taxpayer money to run antimarijuana ads as more states approve the use of
marijuana for medical use," Mr. Piper said. "The ads are a way for federal
officials to use taxpayer money to campaign against medical-marijuana
ballot measures without it being obvious."

Mr. Walters disagreed.

"We're focusing on marijuana because it's the single most abused drug by
young people," he said.

A drug czar cannot use the ad campaign for partisan political purposes. The
House reauthorization bill further clarifies that the director may not run
ads for or against ballot initiatives.

The Senate bill does not contain the language, Mr. Piper said, and without
it, the ONDCP could use ads to campaign against medical-marijuana ballot
initiatives next year.

Mr. Walters dismissed that idea. "We think that's inappropriate," he said
of running ads against such initiatives.