3.3.1.3 Local Anti-Drug Media Campaigns and Related Activities

Several sites were running their own local media campaigns or other media activities to promote awareness and education about drugs. In general, television, radio, billboards, and newspapers were the major outlets for disseminating information to the public.

Sioux City included drug prevention events and articles in their local paper, and other sites covered the heroin epidemic and other drug-related stories extensively. The local newspaper in one western site ran a feature article in which college students and high school students argued the pros and cons of issues such as drinking, smoking, and marijuana use. The teen page in a newspaper read by many residents of one southwestern site was well regarded and often addressed the topic of drug use.

In San Diego, the Drug Free Alliance produced media ads tailored to the local community. For instance, one video showed a youth crossing the border sober and coming back intoxicated. The local ABC affiliate in another site has led media efforts in the community and recently ran a series on substance abuse. Other sites ran drug use prevention ads (e.g., those that depict a local treatment facility) on local television. These ads featured testimonials from individuals in recovery or from their family members, and community members perceived these ads to be some of the most effective they had seen.

Local news shows in a number of sites gave considerable coverage to local drug problems such as drug-related violence (e.g., in one site, an infant was killed while his father was buying crack-cocaine). Some professional sports teams have became involved with local media campaigns. For example, the Denver Broncos sponsor the Red Ribbon campaign in the Denver area, and the Colorado Rockies sponsor PSAs against tobacco and alcohol use.

The State of Arizona funds an intensive media campaign, administered by the Riester Corporation, against tobacco and cigarettes. Informants reported seeing anti-smoking ads on television in Tucson. Channel 52, a Spanish television station in Tucson, runs a local anti-drug commercial targeting the Spanish-speaking population.

One of the southwestern sites has been running some of their own PSAs that were sponsored by local hospitals, and there are other agencies and programs that used billboards to carry prevention messages. One billboard on a major interstate highway keeps track of the number of tobacco-related deaths and the count goes up as you watch (there is a counter with numbers that change). A local campaign in San Diego, the Methamphetamine Strike Force, has produced six billboards with anti-drug messages.

Atlanta has a significant number of anti-alcohol billboards along most interstates surrounding the city. The billboards were purchased by law firms that were trying to solicit new clients (i.e., people who needed legal counsel because they were driving while intoxicated or under the influence).

Informants in several sites also mentioned using radio for local prevention messages. Denver broadcasts anti-marijuana ads on KOA radio, and KBPI, a radio station known for playing "hard rock" music, recently programmed a drug-free weekend that included no songs referring to drugs and no musicians who were known to use drugs. Radio talk shows also included discussions of drug-related issues.