Statement of John P. Walters
Director of National Drug Control Policy
Before the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Related Agencies
The Office of National Drug Control Policy's FY 2004 Budget Request for the
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
April 9, 2003
Chairman Istook, Ranking Member Olver, and distinguished Committee Members. It is my pleasure to appear before you today to discuss the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and our $170 million FY 2004 budget request for this important program. I will discuss its accomplishments to date, and as we look forward, the tremendous potential it holds to lead our national efforts to return youth drug use to the low levels we experienced just over a decade ago.
The discussion of the Media Campaign should be seen in the context of national pro-drug media efforts of unprecedented proportions. Not only are pro-drug messages found through out our popular youth culture, these harmful effects are exacerbated by a media backdrop of drug legalization referenda and debates over medical marijuana.
Mr. Chairman, when I first examined the Media Campaign it was with a critical eye. I found a Campaign staffed with smart, highly dedicated professionals, plus the active participation of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA), our leading anti-drug advertising non-profit organization. Although well-grounded at its inception with the best available concepts, the inevitable dynamics of the learning curve were at work; which should not be entirely unexpected for a pioneering government communications effort to change the behavior of the nation's teen population, concerning a topic that is not widely understood by the public.
But there is good news. In December, the Monitoring the Future survey from the University of Michigan, one of our national benchmarks of youth drug use, reported a sharp downturn in teen drug use in 2002, the first clear-cut reduction in years. We believe the Media Campaign contributed to these results. Moreover, PDFA's 2002 PATS survey reported that 49% of teens were seeing anti-drug ads daily, and that 40% of teens said that anti-drug advertising made them less likely to try or use drugs, a statistically significant increase from the previous year.
