ANTI-DRUG ADS A WASTE OF MONEY

Editor:

The full-page ads being distributed by the White House's anti-drug office
are a striking example of government waste.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has a $150 million
advertising budget for this fiscal year - more than all other federal
agencies' ad budgets combined - that it spends on ads that even they admit
don't work.

For instance, the ads claim that more teen-agers seek treatment for
marijuana than for all other drugs combined. This statement, while true, is
disingenuous at best: According to U.S. government statistics, most teens
in treatment for "marijuana abuse" are not in treatment because they were
found to be addicted, but because they were arrested and given a choice of
treatment or jail.

All of the recent growth in teen marijuana treatment admissions has been
driven by the criminal justice system.

What the ads ignore is the fact that marijuana prohibition - not the drug
itself - poses the greatest risk to teens (and adults). Under prohibition,
even "youthful indiscretions" with marijuana can lead to loss of student
financial aid, exclusion from participation in extracurricular activities,
termination of employment, and, of course, incarceration and a criminal record.

Gregory J. Campbell, Charleston