WEB REVIEW: FRANK HAS NO CRED

With a title, font and old skool graphics that recall the failed women's style magazine Frank, the government's new drugs education website talktofrank.com seems dated. More importantly, like the aforementioned spin off of the Face, it doesn't appear to know who its audience is.

The campaign aims to provide information to young people and their
parents. But the website's advice is so basic that it is only of
practical use to those with little if any knowledge of drugs.

Regular users of even soft drugs are likely to find it naive or
patronising. For example, the cocktail menu on mixing drugs seems to
be a half-hearted attempt to be cool.

Danny Kushlick, director of the Transform drugs policy institute,
neatly sums the site's problems up: "Who the hell is Frank - Frank
Butcher, Frank Bruno? You can email questions to Frank but the website
doesn't say who you're talking to or what their credentials are."

The site has a standard A-Z of drugs, listing their various names,
their positive and negative effects, the risks of addiction and the
criminal penalties.

But Mr Kushlick believes the information is too negative to engage
young people. He points out that unlike the award-winning leaflets for
young people created by drug charities such as Lifeline, Talk to Frank
does not offer advice for users on how to take drugs as safely as possible.

He said: "The entry on coke says that supplying it can get you jailed
for life. No one gets life for supplying coke even major smugglers -
and definitely not people dealing small amounts to their friends. It's
not credible."

If this website is to enable parents to talk more freely with their
children about drugs, more balanced information is needed.
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that a government-backed education
campaign would risk the wrath of the Daily Mail.