White House To Launch Rx Abuse Ads During Super Bowl
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John Walters said that the administration is launching a national advertising campaign on Sunday during the Super Bowl to spotlight the growing problem of prescription drug abuse by young adolescents and adults, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
While general drug abuse rates nationwide are low, prescription drug abuse among 12- to 17-year-olds is higher than any other type of drug, with the exception of marijuana, according to a White House drug policy office report released last month.
The 30-second advertisement, which will have a potential audience of about 140 million people, is a precursor to a national advertising campaign developed jointly by the drug policy office and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America to raise awareness of the problem, the Star-Ledger reports.
The multimedia advertising campaign will include Web and print ads and will be financed by a $14 million federal fund that will be used to generate about $30 million in advertising revenue, according to Walters. The formal report, titled Prescription for Danger: A Report on the Troubling Trend of Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drug Abuse among the Nation's Teens, states that the three classes of prescription medicines commonly abused are painkillers, anti-depressants and stimulant drugs (Nugent, Newark Star-Ledger, 2/1).