A program initiated by drug czar Barry McCaffrey to increase anti-drug messages on prime time television and in major print publications has been slightly changed after a firestorm of national press accusing the drug czar’s office of attempting to buy-off the networks and influence the content of programming.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) advertising program that began in 1997, offers additional advertising dollars to television networks for anti-drug content embedded in programming, in lieu of airing ONDCP public service announcements. The government received $2 billion worth in anti-drug advertising for $1 billion, by requiring the media to provide $1 of free anti-drug messages for every $1 spent. If the networks included anti-drug messages or showed drug use in a negative light in its programming, the drug czar’s office would give “credits” to the network. The credits would allow the networks to sell to other companies the advertising time previously allotted to the drug czar’s office.
At a House appropriations subcommittee last October, McCaffrey explained the credit system: “An on-strategy story line that is the main plot of a half-hour show can be valued at three 30-second ads…If there is an end tag with an 800 number or more information at the end of a half-hour show, it is valued at an additional 15-second ad. A main story-line in an hour-long prime-time show is valued at five 30-second ads, while such a story-line in a one-hour daytime show is valued at four 30-second ads.”
The ONDCP would review the programming, and in some instances, would receive scripts for credit approval, before the show aired, causing some to fear the drug czar’s office was approving content. This week, White House press secretary Joe Lockhart stated, “They’ve (ONDCP) revised their policy to no longer look at scripts or do changes in programming for credit before a program is finished.” ONDCP spokesman Bob Weiner said their office will continue to do consulting work for producers who request their assistance.
Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), chairman of the House Commerce Committee’s telecommunications panel, is planning hearings this spring on the policy and its guidelines. He said about the program, “We’re not going to allow the federal government to become a censor.”
“This is further evidence of the erosion of Constitutional rights resulting from the ‘war on drugs,'” said Keith Stroup, NORML Executive Director. “First, the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure was dramatically reduced; now the First Amendment protection of free speech is being undermined.”
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Executive Director at (202) 483-5500.
