Newspaper Article

Drug Ad Campaign Fails the Needs

By Kathleen Riddle. Kathleen Riddle is president of the New York State Association of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Providers Inc

1998

Overview

THE WHITE HOUSE has just embarked on a $195-million-a-year media campaign to discourage young people from using illegal drugs. The office of the White House drug policy adviser, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, says the five-year program involves schools, athletic leagues, the entertainment industry, the Internet, community organizations and local doctors' offices. Such a mammoth undertaking is bound to raise the expectations of drug-involved youth and their families that, if they seek help, it will be available. This national media campaign comes at the same time that New York State's funding for prevention and treatment programs has leveled off under Gov. George Pataki's administration. So prevention and treatment work, and a media campaign is in place to help out. But are the primary resources in place? From a suburban Nassau and Suffolk County perspective, the veto comes at an inopportune time. Treatment services for teenagers and their families in both counties are insufficient. We are experiencing a marked increase in heroin use among middle-class and affluent young people. About 14 percent of the young people undergoing drug treatment in Outreach House in Suffolk County were using heroin.

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