Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
From: [catalyst remailer] at [netcom.com]
Subject: We did it! Media Turn-Around :-) !
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 10:04:38 -0700

Today's wire news, which they called "Anti-Drug Messages Lose Favor".

        WASHINGTON (AP) -- Where have all the anti-drug ads gone? Time
was, a night of television wasn't complete without that guy
breaking an egg into a sizzling frying pan with the warning, ``This
is your brain on drugs.''
        But those days are over as the public has moved on to other
worries, such as war, violent crime and the economy.
        At the same time, there have been fewer drug-related network
news stories and television shows with anti-drug messages, while
pro-drug messages from entertainers become more numerous, say those
who monitor such matters.
        There is no hard data showing the individual impact on young
people of anti-drug ads, news stories and TV programs on drug use,
but some specialists say the collective changes could be factors in
a recent rise in drug use.
        A study by Lloyd Johnston of the University of Michigan found a
growth in the use of marijuana, amphetamines, LSD and inhalants
such as glue, solvents and aerosols by eighth-, 10th- and
12th-graders last year.
        Significantly, the study also revealed that students' fears
about the dangers of nearly all drugs, including cocaine, continued
a decline that began in 1991.
        Johnston, who has tracked students' use of drugs for nearly two
decades, said reduced fears of drugs have led in the past to
increased use. ``I do think the pulling back of media's carrying of
those ads has made a difference,'' he said.
        The number of anti-drug ads broadcast on the major networks
declined by 29 percent from 1990 to 1993, said Steve Dnistrian of
the Media-Advertising Partnership for a Drug-Free America, which
produces them and pushes TV stations and publications to run them.
        In interviews, Johnston and Jay Winsten, director of the Center
for Health Communication at Harvard University's School of Public
Health, agreed that the changes in attitudes and rising drug use
cannot be blamed solely on the drop in anti-drug messages.
        ``What we're up against is mixed messages,'' said Winsten, a
developer of the designated-driver campaign to combat drunken
driving. New pro-drug images ``may be more responsible for the
changes in attitudes than any decrease in the number of anti-drug
ads,'' he said.
        As the message on drug use was becoming mixed, the nation's
attention was diverted to other subjects.
        The number of drug-related stories on the ABC, CBS and NBC
evening newscasts last year dropped by 87 percent from 1989, when
President Bush declared a war on drugs, according to figures from
the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a private monitoring
group.
        ``The issue was getting heavy attention in the late '80s, until
we got the buildup to the Gulf War,'' Johnston said. ``That knocked
everything off the screen.''
        The drug issue never bounced back, he said.
        ``This is a country that doesn't like to struggle with problems
for too long,'' Johnston said. When they drag on for decades,
``it's easier not to think about it.''
        Meanwhile, some entertainers, including popular rock and rap
groups, have been celebrating the joys of drugs.
        ``I like to get high, high, high,'' intones Cyprus Hill, a rap
group that supports legalizing marijuana.
        The rock group Guns N' Roses sings about shooting up drugs,
while Nirvana -- whose lead singer Kurt Cobain recently suffered a
brief coma brought on by mixing a large dose of tranquilizers with
champagne -- sings about sniffing glue.
        Nirvana's lyrics do acknowledge a down side to the high: ``We'll
float around and hang out on clouds, then we'll come down and have
a hangover.''