In 1998, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) created the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (Media Campaign). The Media Campaign was intended to reduce drug use among young people through the use of multi-media advertising and public communications strategies that included television, radio, and prints ads. Yet, the evidence shows that the Media Campaign has been ineffective in reducing youth drug use, and may have actually done more harm than good.

Over the past six years, Congress has spent more than $1 billion on the Media Campaign, making ONDCP - and its primary private partner, the Partnership for a Drug Free America - one of the nation’s largest advertisers.  Congress is considering reauthorizing the Media Campaign for five more years, as part of the reauthorization of ONDCP. Already the House has voted to spend $150 million next year on anti-drug ads and the Senate has voted to spend $100 million. Congress has appointed a conference committee to come up with a number that both sides can agree on.

The Drug Policy Alliance believes the Media Campaign is a waste of taxpayer money and should be eliminated. The money would be better spent on drug treatment or other programs that are proven to reduce drug use, or given back to the taxpayers. At the very least Congress should cut the amount of taxpayer money spent on the program by going with the lower Senate spending level of $100 million.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign not only fails to reduce drug use, but may also make youth more likely to use marijuana in the future. According to NIDA, the ads may give youth the perception that drug use is common among their peers; and may also trigger what psychologists call “reactance” - the more someone is told what not to do, the more they want to do it.  Other experts believe the ads are so ridiculous and over-the-top that young people dismiss them outright, assuming they’re being lied to.

In 2002, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) conducted a review of the Media Campaign as part of a larger evaluation project of more than 200 Federal programs.  According to the OMB and the President Bush’s budget submission for FY2004 (Appendix, p. 1053), “The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has not demonstrated the results sought, and does not yet have adequate performance measures and related goals.”

Members of Congress have also expressed serious concerns about the Media Campaign’s waste of taxpayer money. Most recently, the FY2003 appropriations conference report warned, “The conferees are deeply disturbed by the lack of evidence that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has had any appreciable impact on youth drug use…If the campaign continues to fail to demonstrate effectiveness, then the Committee will be compelled to reevaluate the use of taxpayer money to support the Media Campaign.” Even Drug Czar John Walters has admitted the Media Campaign is a flop, saying “this campaign isn’t reducing drug use.“ (Although that has not stopped him from asking for more taxpayer money for the failed program.)

Drug Policy Alliance has been challenging the ad campaign for years, arguing the money could be better spent on drug treatment or other programs. Most recently, the Alliance led a national campaign to stop the White House’s ridiculous “drugs and terror” ads which compared non-violent marijuana smokers to terrorists. The Alliance took out a full-page ad in Roll Call (a newspaper that every politician in Washington, D.C. reads), hosted a groundbreaking “drugs and terrorism” forum broadcasted on C-SPAN, and criticized the ads in newspapers, on radio shows, and on TV. Drug Czar John Walters canceled the “drugs and terror” ad campaign earlier this year, but the government continues to run other absurd anti-marijuana ads.