Just say no campaign failed miserably.
 

I grew up in the 80's and remember the "Just Say No!" campaign very well. There was a handful of years that any student (at least where I lived) couldn't go anywhere without seeing it in some form or another.

There was a piece on the news last night stating that over the years the government has spent around 33 billion dollars on the Just Say No campaign. Yet the number of kids who try drugs as teens and the average age at which they try them is almost identical today as it was in 1970.

It has been an epic fail.

Just thought it was interesting.

In the world market place, businesses are competing with completely different products. Cigarettes, anti-smoking patches, drug dealer campaigns, say "no" campaigns, killer music, life music.

same with the d.a.r.e campaign, it actually educated kids and teens on how to use the drugs and where to get them. Particularly ones you can get in your local pharmacy.

damn, 33 billion? what a waste :(

http://www.mycams.com/justsayno/ :pimp

numbers would've been worse without the program.

For that matter, so did the "War on Poverty" started in the 1960s by Lyndon Johnson... 59 federal welfare programs that have spent 8 to 10 trillion dollars (about 100 billion per year), and there are still more people trapped in poverty for generations.


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I have several friends that are cops. Every year the do the D.A.R.E program where they talk to schools and give a lot of information out to them. I actually said something similar to what you did to my buddy. I looked at one of the pamphlets and then said, "Doesn't this just tell kids which prescription drugs will get them high so they can go check out mom and dad's medicine cabinet?"

He said, "I guess you have a point, but we hope they will see the risks and decide not to do it."

Maybe. Or we could have spent that money on helping those who get on drugs recover. A recovered addict is a lot better spokesperson than a pamphlet with a slogan.

When I was in 6th grade we had a guy come to my class who was a recovering heroin addict. He had been clean for more than 10 years. He talked about the hell he went through and was very convincing and real. He showed us a movie of what it is like to come down off of heroin. There was a scene where a guy was naked, convulsing, covered in sweat and he was shitting and puking all over a bathroom. It scared the hell out of me and I remember thinking, "I never want that to be me."

I can't say that is the only reason I never tried anything harder than weed, but it is one of the major reasons.

http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/e...o_to_crack.jpg

ADG

I completely agree that those programs have been monumental failures, however, I also am a firm believer that you can't really control behavior simply by withholding information. The info is out there, (which over-the-counter drugs will get you high), and they'd find it one way or another eventually.

They should have spent that money on something more worthwhile, like a couple of government hammers or toilet seats.

Just Say No reminded me of an SNL skit commercial where the spokesman was selling the secret of success with the tag line, Get Confident, Stupid!

Yeah, that'll work.

33 Billion.

Yeah, but the drug king-pins spent $100 billion promoting the opposite.

You already know what happens when you tell a kid "not" to do "that"...

good point
 

good point

Some of my favorite memories of the 80s was whenever I was lighting up something illicit, or underage drinking or getting it on with another big hair... someone would always vocalize "Just say no"... then we'd have a laugh and proceed.

yea they took it almost completely out of NJ if im not mistaken.