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Teens More Likely To Try Marijuana After Viewing Feds' Anti-Pot Ads, Study Says
NORML | 05/11/2006

San Marcos, TX: Teenagers exposed to anti-marijuana public service announcements (PSAs) produced by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) are more likely to hold positive attitudes about the drug and are more likely to express their intent to use cannabis after viewing the advertisements, according to a study published in the May issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors.

Two hundred and twenty-six volunteers age 18- to 19-years old took part in the study. Participants viewed either a series of anti-marijuana PSAs accessed from the ONDCP website or a series of anti-tobacco advertisements. Investigators then surveyed viewers' attitudes toward the two substances by using a five-point scale (e.g., good-bad) and computerized implicit association tests (IATs). Researchers also measured respondents' intent to use either marijuana or tobacco via a 10-point scale (e.g., agree-disagree).

Investigators found that viewers expressed significantly fewer negative attitudes toward marijuana after viewing the ads. No such "boomerang effect" was noted among those who viewed anti-tobacco advertising.

"It appears that ... anti-marijuana public statement announcements used in national anti-drug campaigns in the US produce immediate effects [that are the] opposite [of those] intended by the creators of this campaign," authors concluded. "This reactance effect was triggered only by anti-marijuana ads [and] not by anti-tobacco ads. Therefore, it cannot be attributed to a general disposition [by adolescents] to respond with reactance (e.g. rebelliousness) to any anti-substance use persuasion."

Investigators added: "Students viewing anti-marijuana advertising [also] declared significantly higher intention to use this substance than students exposed to anti-tobacco ads, while controlling for pre-existing differences in attitudes to marijuana. ... [This] would suggest that exposure to anti-marijuana advertising might not only change young viewers attitudes to [become] more positive toward this substance, but also might directly increase [their] risk of using marijuana."

The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, initiated by Congress in 1998, has spent more than $2 billion in taxpayers' money and matching funds producing and airing anti-marijuana advertisements, including several alleging that the use of cannabis funds international terrorist activities.

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replica

That's a brilliant PSA slap to the face

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sleep please

Moderation is a smoker's best friend

More Rights, Please.

PotShot

$2 billion to cause more kids want to "shoot up the marijuana," hell, why not legalize it?

Oh yeah, prison/police/industry complex. Forgot for a second.

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Dalamar49

Thank goodness for teenage rebelliousness! No amount of propaganda can convince a cynical teenager. I know my first experience with marijuana was motivated by the the rhetoric spewed by my television and school.

Kool Keith

If I was an American I'd ask for some of my tax dollars back.......

I think we've all known anti-marijuana commercials have been useless since day 1, but I bet they keep making more!

The best one I remember is this kid rapping about how his friend messed up his life by 'getting caught with weed'. Moral of the story, don't get caught.

 

TheNewGuy

That seems to be the moral of most of these PSA's. Especially the ones that tell parents to talk to thier kids about drugs. Most parents probably take that to mean "tell your kids you'll kick thier ass if you ever catch them with drugs" which in turn just makes the kid think that they can't ever talk openly with thier parents.

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"Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." ~P.J. O'Rourke