Brad Owen

In 1998, the government instituted the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, a five-year media campaign aimed at preventing adolescent drug abuse through antidrug advertisements. Brad Owen, arguing in favor of the government media campaign, contends in the following viewpoint that advertising has the power to change teens’ attitudes about drugs. Owen writes for the Columbian, a newspaper based in southern Washington.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What proof of the effectiveness of advertising does Owen provide?
2. According to the author, how will the new antidrug media campaign redefine the media’s obligation to public service?
3. How did attitudes about drug use change from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, in Owen’s view"

Adolescent drug use is on the rise in America and at an even faster...