The effectiveness of anti-illicit-drug public-service announcements: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Werb D., Mills E.J., DeBeck K. et al.
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health: 2011, 65, p. 834–840.
Governments spend millions on them and they may serve political functions, but do antidrug media campaigns prevent drug use? This first systematic review finds no strong evidence that they do and some that they can have the opposite effect.
Summary Nations including the UK, USA, Australia and Canada have mounted media campaigns featuring commercials aimed at preventing the use of illicit drugs, generally targeted at young people. Despite their popularity, what impact such campaigns have is unclear. The featured review aimed to fill this gap by analysing relevant English-language articles deriving from studies assessing impacts on intentions to use illicit drugs and/or actual self-reported use.
