Media campaign to alert youth to dangers of drugs launched

A MEDIA BASED campaign aimed at alerting young people to the dangers of drug usage was launched in Dublin yesterday.

The Mass Media Drug Prevention Campaign will promote the message that "drugs destroy lives, not just the users but people close to them too", said the Minister of State for Health, Mr Brian O'Shea.

The campaign will complement other information and educational initiatives on the subject, and follows market research conducted among the 14 to 24 age group. That established that there is widespread awareness of the differences between different types of drugs and their availability among young people, and that there is suspicion and distrust of any communication about drugs which young people consider to be authoritarian or in any way hectoring.

Mr O'Shea said that most young people were extremely wary of drug usage but they resented being lectured to by adults.

Mr O'Shea, who is also chairman of the national co ordinating committee on drug abuse, explained that the TV campaign used an image of a kite soaring to ever new heights, "symbolising freedom and the celebration of life". However, this contrasts with the grief of a young man towards the end of the advertisement.

The campaign will be supported by cinema, poster and radio advertising, and parents will be urged to seek advice for their children become involved with drugs.

"There is no doubt that drug misuse has been with us for some time but we all must be concerned by what appears to be an escalation of the problem," Mr O'Shea said. "And we must be particularly concerned when we hear reports of a downward trend in the age at which our young people are being exposed to drugs and the age at which experimentation occurs."

He also referred to the relationship between drug misuse, crime and violence, describing this as "a major cause for concern."

The campaign will be complemented by an information line - 1850 70 1850 - open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.