The following statement was released today in response to results of the 2003 Monitoring the Future Study:

"Under the leadership of Director Walters and with the goal of supporting the President's drug use reduction goals, the Media Campaign was revamped in 2002 to produce harder-hitting ads and outreach that focused specifically on the harms of marijuana. We are pleased today to see that our efforts are beginning to pay off—marijuana use has declined significantly among youth and their perceptions of harm associated with the drug have increased.

From 2001 to 2003, current marijuana use among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders declined 11 percent (from 16.6 percent to 14.8 percent); past year use also declined 11 percent (from 27.5 percent to 24.5 percent); and lifetime use declined 8.2 percent (from 35.3 to 32.4 percent). During this time, the Media Campaign coordinated a comprehensive effort to educate parents and teens about the serious threats of youth marijuana use.

Other findings from the Monitoring the Future Study released today are encouraging:

• Among 8th, 10th and 12th graders, the perceived risk of using marijuana increased markedly since the inception of the Media Campaign in 1998, with more than half of the increase occurring in the past two years. Data is particularly striking among 10th graders, the primary target audience of the Media Campaign.

• Since the inception of the Media Campaign in 1998, exposure to anti-drug advertising has had an effect on improving youth anti-drug attitudes and intentions. Among all three grades, such ads have made youth attitudes to a "great extent" or "very great extent" less favorable toward drugs and less likely to use them in the future. Again, more than half of the increase in this outcome has occurred in the past two years with striking results among 10th graders.

• For 8th-graders, there has been a slow but steady progress toward reduction of marijuana use. Past year use decreased significantly from 14.6 percent in 2002 to 12.8 percent in 2003. This is the lowest rate for 8th-graders seen since 1993, and is well below the peak of 18.3 percent in 1996.

• Among 10th-graders, 28.2 percent reported past year marijuana use, significantly below the peak of 34.8 percent in 1997.

The Media Campaign's anti-marijuana effort includes advertising, news media outreach, partnerships with corporate and non-profit organizations, online and print resources for parents, influential adults and teens, and outreach to the entertainment community.

An analysis of marijuana messages in print and television news found that after the 2002 launch of the Media Campaign's marijuana effort, the messages about the risks of marijuana in the news media increased significantly (26% to 78%) as compared to pre-launch coverage. A recent study in the Journal of Health Communication, "Media and Marijuana: A Longitudinal Analysis of News Media Effects on Adolescents' Marijuana Use and Related Outcomes, 1977–1999," finds that news coverage of the consequences of marijuana use may affect adolescent's personal disapproval of marijuana, which ultimately influences decisions to abstain from using marijuana.

While marijuana remains the most commonly used illicit drug among youth, today's results show that advertising as well as media and community outreach efforts have been powerful tools in educating American parents and teens about the serious threats of marijuana. Youth are getting the right message that drug use is a dangerous activity with significant consequences.

Today's data underscores two recent studies that have also shown the Media Campaign is working. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) reported on September 24th that the Campaign positively affects teen attitudes on drug use by making teens less likely to try or use drugs. Additionally, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) released September 5th found that youth who heard or saw anti-drug messages outside of school actually used drugs less than youth who had not seen such messages."

In 1998, with bipartisan support, Congress created the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign with the goal of educating and enabling young people to reject illicit drugs. The Campaign is a strategically integrated communications effort that combines advertising with public communications outreach to deliver anti-drug messages and skills to America's youth, their parents, and other influential adults. Creative work from America's top advertising agencies is donated to the Campaign through the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

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