ONDCP Print Ads Arm Parents with Scientific Data
WASHINGTON, April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Office of National Drug Control
Policy's (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign today launches a new
advertising campaign to provide scientific facts about marijuana risks and
harms for parents of teens. Themed "Facts for Parents," the print ad campaign
underscores the potency and carcinogenic content of marijuana and outlines
short- and long-term consequences of marijuana use on adolescent brain
development and learning. Starting today, the ads are running in The New York
Times, USA Today, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. During the
course of the next four months, they will also appear in Newsweek,
BusinessWeek, Time and Smithsonian magazines.
"We've done research with parents to determine what motivates them to take
an active stance about marijuana with their teens, and we discovered that many
parents say they don't have the accurate information or compelling facts they
need to address this issue," said John P. Walters, Director of National Drug
Control Policy. "These ads give parents some hard facts that they can use to
have informed conversations with their kids about the negative consequences of
marijuana. When parents stay involved in their teens' lives and talk to them
about the harms and risk of drugs such as marijuana, the teens are much less
likely to use drugs."
According to the 17th annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study conducted
by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (the Partnership), the number of
parents who report never talking with their child about drugs has doubled in
the past six years, from 6 percent in 1998 to 12 percent in 2004. Fewer than
one in three teens (approximately 30 percent) say they have learned a lot
about the risks of drugs at home.
"Recent research shows that today's parents are significantly less likely
to be talking with their teens about drug use. In part, this is due to their
lack of understanding about today's marijuana," says Roy Bostock, Chairman of
the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "We hope these ads can educate
parents that today's marijuana is different than the marijuana they knew as
teenagers and prompt them to send a clear and consistent message that
marijuana and other drug use is not acceptable."
The ads, created by BBDO Worldwide in collaboration with the Partnership
and ONDCP, incorporate data from the latest scientific research that
demonstrates how marijuana harms teens' minds and bodies. For example:
-- Kids who are regular marijuana users often have shortened attention
spans, decreased energy and ambition, lack of judgment, high
distractibility, and impaired ability to communicate and relate to
others -- a set of symptoms called "amotivational syndrome" by
psychologists.
-- Kids who regularly smoke marijuana often make risky decisions about
driving or sex.
-- Using marijuana can lead to symptoms of depression and thoughts of
suicide.
-- Regular marijuana use can lead to breathing problems and greater
exposure to cancerous chemicals than from tobacco. In fact, one
marijuana cigarette can deliver four times as much cancer-causing tar
as one tobacco cigarette.
-- Marijuana today is more than twice as powerful on average as it was 20
years ago. It contains twice the concentration of THC, the chemical
that affects the brain.
More information about the effects of marijuana use and its signs and
symptoms, as well as advice for parents on keeping kids drug-free, can be
found on the Media Campaign Web site for parents at
http://www.TheAntiDrug.com . Parents can also call the National Clearinghouse
for Alcohol and Drug Information at 1-800-788-2800 for free resources.
In 1998, with the bipartisan support of Congress and the President, ONDCP
created the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, an effort designed to
educate and empower youth to reject illicit drugs. Counting on an
unprecedented blend of public and private partnerships, non-profit community
service organizations, volunteerism, and youth-to-youth communications, the
Campaign is designed to reach Americans of diverse backgrounds with effective
anti-drug messages.
For more information on the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign,
visit http://www.mediacampaign.org .
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