Palm Trees

Does "Just Say No" Work?

"Just Say No" emerged in the 1980s as the brainchild of then First Lady Nancy Reagan. The nationwide advertising campaign was launched as part of the United States’ "War on Drugs" and used to discourage kids from participating in recreational drug use. The campaign offered kids a variety of ways to say "No", providing a way out of sticky and pressure situations.

Unfortunately, countless studies argue that the campaign doesn’t work. In fact, a 2008 paper by Hornik et al examined the effect of the National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign between 1999 and 2004. Findings from this study showed that typical messages such as “Soccer” My Anti-Drug” typically had no effect on drug or alcohol use. Instead, it may have just increased the number of youth soccer players in the nation.

While the concept was a good one, this advertising did not work. They failed to change the public perception as the public was already well aware of the health risks associated with drugs, alcohol and smoking. Yet even with these failed results, the federal government still allocates roughly $2 billion per year to fund youth drug and violence prevention programs.

So, if young people already know the risks associated with substance use, why did the campaign fail? Mainly because the mantra “Just Say No” was too far removed from the reality of life. And, its simplistic approach had little in common with the complexities teenagers deal with on a daily basis. Many lacked the confidence or even the desire to take a stand and resist the pressure.

Another argument against the effectiveness of “Just Say No” education is that the approach is too broad. When abstinence is preached across the spectrum, it implies that all drug use is considered abuse, all drugs are equally dangerous and lifetime abstinence is a realistic goal. It also implies that marijuana use is simply a gateway to narcotics. In addition, zero-tolerance sensibility promotes ostracizing those kids who may need the most help in making wise decisions regarding drugs.

The message also puts the consumption of an occasional glass of wine in the same class as cocaine use, wrecking the creditability of teachers and parents. Horror stories are shared about celebrities and sports heroes alike who take their drug use too far and die as a result. Those teens who have experimented find that death on the first try is highly unlikely and they quickly turn a deaf ear towards other broad and generic warnings.

Unfortunately, the other problem with the “Just Say No” approach is that the Department of Education has subsidized the approach for years without requiring any type of accountability. To combat this, the Department started to require that school districts only use antidrug strategies that have proven to be effective. At the same time, the Drug-Free Schools Act requires that schools preach abstinence – which has been proven to be ineffective.

Some argue that the best approach to battling drugs would be to instead tell the truth. But how much truth can or should children handle at a young age? Kids are smarter and more in tune with the truth than adults often realize. Even more damning is they can smell a rat from a mile away. The best approach could be similar to the suggested approach for educating children on the truth about sex. Of course, considering teen pregnancy statistics we haven’t got that one right either.