A Tenacious Government Failure

It has been reported more than once that the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) anti-drug ads are ineffective and there is strong evidence that they have a reverse effect actually increasing drug use. In December the issue of the American Journal of Public Health yet another study will be published proving the above facts to be true.

The investigation was conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communication and the Drug War Chroniclequotes the authors as saying that, “The evidence does not support a claim that the campaign produced anti-marijuana effects. There is little evidence for a contemporaneous association between exposure to anti-drug advertising and any of the outcomes... Non-users who reported more exposure to anti-drug messages were no more likely to express anti-drug beliefs than were youths who were less exposed.” They went on to assert that, "Despite extensive funding, governmental agency support, the employment of professional advertising and public relations firms, and consultation with subject-matter experts, the evidence from the evaluation suggests that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign had no favorable effects on youths' behavior and that it may even have had an unintended and undesirable effect on drug cognitions and use."

Senator McCain has said he wants to take an axe to the federal budget while Senator Obama has said a scalpel is needed. Axe or scalpel, this useless and often slanderous program needs to be eliminated.

Cross posted on The Trebach Report