The Honorable José E. Serrano

Chair, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

House Appropriations Committee

Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Ralph Regula

Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

House Appropriations Committee

Washington, D.C. 20515

Re: Eliminate Funding for Ineffective ONDCP Ad Campaign in Financial Services Appropriations Bill

Dear Chairman Serrano and Ranking Member Regula:

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-partisan organization with hundreds of thousands of members and 53 affiliates nationwide, we write to express our serious concern with the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. The Campaign—widely regarded as ineffective, wasteful and at times misleading—is yet another wrongheaded tactic in the war on drugs. The Campaign has cost taxpayers more that $1.5 billion since created, and the only demonstrable effect on its target audience runs contrary to the Campaign’s supposed goals. In fact, studies have found that the Ad Campaign might actually increase teen drug use. The FY08 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill will be marked up today in the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. We urge you to eliminate funding for ONDCP’s National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.

The ACLU takes the problems associated with teen drug use and drug addiction very seriously, and for this reason the ACLU has sought to end punitive drug policies that divert precious resources away from proven, health-oriented approaches, like science-based drug treatment and prevention programs.  The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently reported a 22.2 million-person treatment gap,[1] meaning that more than 22 million Americans are in need of drug and alcohol treatment but do not receive it.  Until this gap is addressed and other health measures that experts agree would actually work to prevent teen drug use are put in place and funded adequately, the ACLU cannot support this failed Media Campaign.

ONDCP has thus far been unable to provide any evidence that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has resulted in a decrease in youth drug use. A 2004 long-term effectiveness study of the ads by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that the ads had a consistently unfavorable effect, with higher exposure leading to weaker anti-drug attitudes.[2] In 2006 the Government Accountability Office confirmed those results. Moreover, a 2006 Texas State University study found that students exposed to the Campaign were more likely to try marijuana than students who had not seen the commercials.[3]  

The Campaign, whose only measurable outcome is weaker anti-drug attitudes in teens, has spent more than $1.5 billion on ineffective advertising since it was created in 1998. The Campaign’s 2003 federal government performance assessment, administered by the White House Office of Management and Budget, found a failure to demonstrate results: “the outcome data from the evaluation suggests little or no direct positive effect on youth behavior and attitude attributable to the Campaign to date.”[4]  The Campaign received a rating of just 6% from OMB for results and accountability in this assessment

The Campaign’s unwavering focus on marijuana is unwise and uninformed.  A 2002 study by the Rand Drug Policy Research Center found that marijuana does not serve as a gateway drug for heroin or cocaine.[5]  Yet, Campaign commercials continue to focus on marijuana, linking the drug to teen pregnancy and terrorism in an alarmist and misleading fashion that has irreparably destroyed the Campaign’s credibility among young audiences.  Another troubling aspect of ONDCP’s Campaign is that it is one of only two prevention programs administered by the agency. The amount of government funding allocated for the National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign could be better used to fund more effective prevention and drug treatment programs for young people. 

In 2003, House and Senate members expressed their frustration with the ineffectiveness of the Campaign in an appropriations bill conference report stating, “The conferees are deeply disturbed by the lack of evidence that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign has had any appreciable impact on youth drug use…If the campaign continues to fail to demonstrate effectiveness, then the Committees will be compelled to reevaluate the use of taxpayer money to support the Media Campaign.”[6]  No such effectiveness has been demonstrated to date.

The ACLU joins with fiscally conservative organizations like the National Taxpayers Union, Citizens Against Government Waste, and Taxpayers for Common Sense, in calling on Congress to eliminate funding for this failed and expensive ad campaign.   

Sincerely,