The government’s anti-drug ad campaign has not been proven to deter children from using drugs, and lawmakers should consider reducing funding for the $1.2 billion program, congressional auditors said Friday. The Government Accountability Office [GAO] based its recommendation on its review of an independent evaluation of the media campaign by Westat Inc….Westat found the ads had no “significant favorable effects” in deterring children from trying marijuana or in getting them to stop. Rather, it found that more 12 1/2- to 13-year-olds and girls were trying the drug after seeing the ads, the GAO said.
So says an August 25, 2006 Associated Press report, which goes on to say:
The agency that oversees the media campaign, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, [ONDCP] took issue with several aspects of Westat’s evaluation.
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy publishes its own, self-commissioned reports about drug use. Many hard-core statisticians savor these ONDCP reports tfor their addictively hallucinogenic picking and preparation of statistics.