Anti Drug Campaign

2. LEGALITY
Nicotine and Alcohol are legal and loosely
regulated to prevent addiction. An estimated
88,000 people die from Alcohol-related causes
annually, making alcohol the third leading
preventable cause of death in the United
States. Those who tend to abuse these
substances use them to self-medicate for
anxiety, trauma and/or stress.

3.  Some people think that because their doctor
gives them a prescription, the medication
they are taking is safe to consume without
consequences. Unfortunately, Opiate-based
prescriptions are extremely addictive and
can act as a gateway to other drugs, like
Heroin. 30% of emergency room admissions
from prescription abuse involve Opiate-
based substances.

4.  This is most common reason among
young adults and teenagers. They start to
use drugs because they want to fit in.
Being rebellious as a teenager or young
adult is very common. In a lot of cases,
young adults and teenagers don’t fully
understand the severity of drug use and
addiction.

5.  Many people who struggle with depression
do not get proper treatment or diagnosis for
this problem. Those struggling with
depression tend to self-medicate to handle
the symptoms of depression with Alcohol,
Marijuana, Cocaine, and various other
mind-altering substances.

6.  This is most common reason among young
adults and teenagers. They start to use
drugs because they want to fit in. Being
rebellious as a teenager or young adult is
very common. In a lot of cases, young
adults and teenagers don’t fully understand
the severity of drug use and addiction.

7.  People start to abuse drugs and
Alcohol because they want to feel
better than they do. Whether it is
stress, anxiety or enhancing their fun
when going out on the weekends,
using drugs or alcohol to feel better is
a gateway to a severe addiction

8.  Prescription drugs, Nicotine, and alcohol
are easy to acquire because they are
readily available raiding a persons
medicine cabinet or running to the store
a for a pack of smokes and a bottle of
vodka is the quickest way to develop a
life consuming addiction

9.  In many cases, substances like Alcohol,
Marijuana and prescription painkillers act
as a gateway to drugs that have a more
intense and mind-altering effect. Currently,
the Opioid epidemic is forcing people to
turn to street drugs, like Meth or Heroin,
when their doctor stops writing refills for
their prescriptions.

10.  Mind-altering substance, like Cocaine
and Alcohol, promise to heighten
experience and that experience is worth
exploring. Unfortunately, there are drugs
like Heroin, Ecstasy, and Meth, that are
so addictive that the person will begin a
pattern of abuse, which can eventually
lead to an addiction.

11.  Self-medicating is the top reason people
abuse drugs and Alcohol. Stress, anxiety,
reoccurring pain, undiagnosed mental
illnesses, severe depression, loneliness,
trauma; these are all reasons why people
would self-medicate with mind-altering
substances to cope with what they are
feeling or what they do not want to feel.

12.  In August 2001, the office told a Congressional
committee that its National Youth Anti-Drug
Media Campaign "has been the most visible
symbol of the federal government's
commitment to drug prevention," and that the
office was "investing $7 million a year in
performance measurement to determine the
effectiveness" of the campaign. The statement
said "We believe there is a strong body of
evidence that indicates the campaign is
working, as planned, to change drug attitudes,
intentions and use."

13.  In 2002, according to a multi-year study by the
research firm hired by the office, teenagers
exposed to federal anti-drug ads were no less
likely to use drugs for having viewed them,
and some young girls said they were even
more likely to give drugs a try. Walters blamed
poor ads that weren't resonating with
teenagers. Walters promised in Senate
testimony in 2002 that he would show results
within a year or admit failure, and Congress
agreed to extend the campaign through 2003
while cutting funding for the ads from $170
million in 2002 to $150 million in 2003. An
entirely new advertising campaign was
created.

14.  In February 2005, a research company hired by
the office and the National Institute on Drug
Abuse reported that the government's ad
campaign aimed at dissuading teens from
using marijuana, a campaign that cost $1.4
billion between 1998 and 2006, did not work:
"greater exposure to the campaign was
associated with weaker anti-drug norms and
increases in the perceptions that others use
marijuana." The research company was paid
$42.7 million for the five-year study. After the
February 2005 report was received, the office
continued the ad campaign, spending $220
million on the anti-marijuana ads in fiscal years
2005 and 2006.

15.  President Bush's goal in this campaign was to reduce youth drug
use by 10% over two years, and 25% over 5 years. The National
Survey of Parent and Youth (NSPY) was instituted and funded by
congress to monitor and assess the NYADMC's effects on
youth. Even though the advertisements themselves were only as
specific as to address use of marijuana, the NSPY measurements
reported alcohol consumption, binge drinking, cigarette use, and
use of marijuana/hashish. The assessment consisted of multiple
rounds of strategic questioning between years 2000 and 2004 to
determine youths exposure to the advertisements, and behavioral
patterns in relation to marijuana use. 94% of youth (ages 12.5-18)
reported exposure to at least 1 anti-drug message per month.
Those sampled didn't change marijuana usage over the time
period measured. Youths claiming to have used marijuana within
the past year in 2000 accounted for 17.1% in 2000, and dropped as
little as .4% to 16.7% in 2004. However, there was a .4% increase in
those claiming to have used marijuana within the past 30 days,
rising from 7.8% to 8.2% between 2000 and 2004. There are also
evidence of pro-marijuana lagged association effects. The rate of
acceleration in use was quicker at among 14- to 18-year-olds than
at earlier stages of teenage years.

16.  Not only do data indicate the ineffectiveness of much anti-drug
advertising, results also point to behavioral reactions in the opposite
direction, or a boomerang effect, where greater exposure to the campaign,
resulted to increased use of marijuana. Of those unexposed to ads on a
given month, 81% did not intend to use marijuana, That percentage
decreased for youth exposed to 1-3 ads per month, to 79% and dropped to
78% among those exposed to more than 4 advertisements per month.
Also measured, were attitudes such as 'anti-marijuana attitudes/beliefs'
and 'anti-marijuana social norms'. Both of these index's portray declining
percentages with increased exposure to ads. Anti-marijuana publicity,
may have stimulated the notion that “‘everyone’s doing it,’” therefore
heightenening the appeal of using marijuana, as a popular practice. The
ads had an unintended positive impact on perceptions towards marijuana
use as they portrayed benefits within the context of using marijuana. This
association was strengthened with repeat exposure. Images that lead to
such impressions included focusing on the "good-times" people were
having while on drugs, happily socializing. These impressions
heightened the appeal of marijuana, thus making people more likely to
initiate use, or increase use. Youth's beliefs and behaviors were also
affected by those of their older siblings. Since older brothers and sisters
were more interested in using marijuana after seeing the ads, the
campaign had an indirect effect on younger siblings as well.

17.  The NYADMC achieved some of its favorable
effects with regard to reaching their message to
the parents of youth. Parent's behavior and
beliefs indicate greater likeliness to engage
children in fun activities, talk about drugs, and
responsiveness to the idea of monitoring their
children's behavior.

18.  According to the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP), the institution that administered the
campaign, the campaign was overall successful. The
ONDCP's independent studies indicate that "youth
exposed to Above the Influence are more likely to
initiate drug use." exposure to the ads. Another similar
media initiative, called "Be Under Your Own Influence"
ran from 2005 to 2009, which results indicate that it was
effective, to a lesser extent than the Above the
Influence campaign, which was running concurrently.
The plausible explanation for this is that they already
had been influenced by the ATI, such that the Be Under
Your Own Influence campaign was repeating a
message that had already been established. Another
study found the impact of the campaign was effective
on both high-sensation-seeking and low-sensation-
seeking youth.

19.  The campaign launched a result-tracking
initiative to comprise the Annual Analysis
Report to Congress, as required by the
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Reauthorization Act of 2006. In 2010, the
Above the Influence (ATI) message
expanded from focusing primarily on
marijuana, to other drugs such as
methamphetamine.

20.  Early months
In speeches made after his inauguration on June 30,
Duterte urged citizens to kill suspected criminals and
drug addicts. He said he would order police to adopt
a shoot-to-kill policy, and would offer them a bounty for
dead suspects. On July 2, 2016, the Communist Party of
the Philippines stated that it "reiterates its standing order
for the NPA to carry out operations to disarm and arrest
the chieftains of the biggest drug syndicates, as well as
other criminal syndicates involved in human rights
violations and destruction of the environment" after its
political wing Bagong Alyansang Makabayan accepted
Cabinet posts in the new government. On July 3, 2016,
the Philippine National Police announced they had killed
30 alleged drug dealers since Duterte was sworn in as
president on June 30. They later stated they had killed 103
suspects between May 10 and July 7.

21.  On July 9, 2016, a spokesperson of the president
told critics to show proof that there have
been human rights violations in the Drug
War. Later that day, the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front announced it was open to collaborate with
police in the Drug War.
 On August 3, 2016, Duterte said that the Sinaloa
cartel and the Chinese triad are involved in the
Philippine drug trade. A presidential
spokesperson said that Duterte welcomed a
proposed Congressional investigation into
extrajudicial killings to be chaired by Senator Leila
de Lima, his chief critic in the government. On
August 7, 2016, Duterte named more than 150
drug suspects including local politicians, police,
judges, and military. On August 8, 2016
the United States expressed concerns over the
extrajudicial killings.

22.  On August 17, 2016, Duterte announced that de Lima
had been having an affair with a married man, her
driver, Ronnie Palisoc Dayan. Duterte claimed that
Dayan was her collector for drug money, who had also
himself been using drugs. In a news conference on
August 21, 2016, Duterte announced that he had in his
possession wiretaps and ATM records which
confirmed his allegations. He stated: "What is really
crucial here is that because of her [romantic]
relationship with her driver which I termed 'immoral'
because the driver has a family and wife, that
connection gave rise to the corruption of what was
happening inside the national penitentiary."
Dismissing fears for Dayan's safety, he added, "As the
President, I got this information … as a privilege. But I
am not required to prove it in court. That is somebody
else's business. My job is to protect public interest.
She's lying through her teeth." He explained that he
had acquired the new evidence from an unnamed
foreign country.

23.  On August 18, 2016, United Nations human
rights experts called on the Philippines to halt
extrajudicial killings. Agnes Callamard, the UN
Special Rapporteur on summary executions,
stated that Duterte had given a "license to kill"
to his citizens by encouraging them to kill. In
response, Duterte threatened to withdraw from
the UN and form a separate group with
African nations and China. Presidential
spokesperson Ernesto Abella later clarified that
the Philippines was not leaving the UN. As the
official death toll reached 1,800, a
Congressional investigation of the killings
chaired by de Lima was opened.

24.  On August 23, 2016, Chito Gascon, head of the
Philippine Commission on Human Rights, told
the Senate committee that the International
Criminal Court may have jurisdiction over the
mass killings. On August 25, Duterte released a
"drug matrix" supposedly linking government
officials, including de Lima, with the New
Bilibid Prison drug trafficking scandal. De
Lima stated that the "drug matrix" was like
something drawn by a 12-year-old child. She
added, "I will not dignify any further this so-
called 'drug matrix' which, any ordinary
lawyer knows too well, properly belongs in the
garbage can." On August 29, Duterte called on
de Lima to resign and "hang herself".