From: Jim Rosenfield <[j n r] at [igc.apc.org]> Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs Subject: New PDFA Campaign Against MJ Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 15:15:29 -0800 (PST) From: Jim Rosenfield UP 01/23 Marijuana target of new ad campaign By TRACY CONNOR NEW YORK, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Pot. Hashish. Mary Jane. Cannabis. Whatever you call it, marijuana is the target of a new nationwide public service advertising campaign from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. At a news conference in Manhattan Monday, partnership officials said studies have shown that marijuana use by teenagers has risen sharply over the last two years and positive perceptions of the drug are growing among youth. "After years of progress and a very dramatic reduction in drug use, a reversal is now occurring," said partnership Chairman James Burke, who was flanked by Lee Brown, director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy. "Leading national indicators suggest a marijuana crisis is now emerging," Burke said, introducing seven new television spots. Dr. Lloyd Johnstone of the University of Michigan, who conducts yearly surveys of teenagers on drug use, said that although marijuana use declined steadily between 1979 and 1991, it has doubled among eighth-graders in the last two years. Thirteen percent of eighth graders surveyed in 1994 admitted using the drug in the previous 12 months, up from 6.5 percent in 1992, when the increase began to be seen. In addition, use among 10th graders was up to 25 percent in 1994 from 15 percent in 1992. And among 12th graders, usage rose to 31 percent in 1994 from 22 percent two years before. He said the current crop of teenagers faces different attitudes toward marijuana than in the '70s, when use among minors peaked at 50.8 percent. Many parents of today's teens used the drug; some popular rap and rock groups encourage its use; and the five-point marijuana leaf has become a popular design motif. "I think it's unlikely things are going to get better in the near future," he said. "They'll get worse before they get better again." Allen Rosenshine, chairman of BBDO Worldwide, a noted advertising firm, created the anti-marijuana advertising campaign at no cost to the partnership, which is a non-profit coalition of representatives from the communications industry and anti-drug activists. He said the creative team behind the ads had to consider several obstacles: teenagers' perception that most of their peers smoke pot and that marijuana will help them cope with the daily problems of life, and the common knowledge that marijuana will not cause any immediate, direct harm to the user. Instead, the youngsters in the ads talk about their increasing dependence on marijuana, its role as a "gateway" to harder drugs, and the impact on their lives. The campaign does not use any of the slogans the partnership is best known for, such as the "This is your brain on drugs," line that accompanied a shot of a messily fried egg. Allen St. Pierre, deputy national director for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws, said that although his group supports legalization for adults only, the partnership's newest campaign is "misguided." "You have to ask why they are devoting their enormous resources to a campaign on teens and marijuana when they could be focusing on crack, cocaine, tobacco or alcohol, all of which are killing people right now," he said. Since March 1987, volunteers for the partnership have created over 400 ads, and the value of air time and print space donated to the group is over $1.7 billion. Copyright 1995 United Press International <<>>