FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Tom Riley or Jennifer de Vallance (202) 395–6618
February 26, 2002
Drug Czar Announces Extension of Ads Linking Drugs, Terror
Walters Hails "Most Successful Ads in History of Anti-Drug Media Campaign"
(Washington, D.C.) — John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced a new round of the high-profile series of National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign ads that debuted on the Super Bowl and have educated millions of Americans about the link between drug trafficking and terror.
"These ads are among the most powerful and effective prevention messages this office has ever released," said Walters. "Expanding the reach of this message will enable even more Americans to use this knowledge to reject drugs."
"One of the reasons these ads are so potent is that they appeal to the idealism of young people," said Walters. "Where previous anti-drug ads have focused on the devastating toll that drugs take on individuals, these ads speak to young people's desire to make the world a better place. We know that proceeds from drug purchases are used to bribe, kidnap, torture, and murder people around the world, and that many of the most dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations rely on drug trafficking to finance their vicious actions. These ads put to rest once and for all the cynical lie that drug use 'doesn't hurt anybody else.'"
The ads, part of the National Youth Anti-drug Media Campaign authorized by Congress in 1998, were first broadcast earlier this month during the Super Bowl, and have run frequently since then on cable and network television. Print versions have appeared in nearly 200 newspapers across the country.
Since the ads debuted, over 180,000 visitors have logged onto the Media Campaign's Web site (www.theantidrug.com) to learn more about the drug/terror connection, while the average length of visit has nearly doubled.
The ads have generated hundreds of news stories. "We knew this message would be powerful," said Walters, "and while our goal is to reduce drug use rather than win popularity contests, it has been gratifying to see the positive response that the ads have generated both in the mainstream media and from advertising professionals. Our goal was to introduce an idea, and I believe we have accomplished that goal."
Independent survey results from the Cook Political Report showed that over half of all Super Bowl viewers (an audience of over 90 million) remembered the message of the ads, and that over 70 percent of them agreed that educating people about the link between drugs and terror was "a new way to discourage illegal drug use."
Information about the nexus between drugs and terror, as well as digital copies of the ads, can be found at www.theantidrug.com.
