The Partnership at Drugfree.org
In the mid-1980s, a small group of advertising professionals discussed how to best use their talents to address the nation’s drug problem. They thought, if advertising could be used to sell products, couldn’t it be used to unsell them as well?
This core team formed the Media-Advertising Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a concept for a non-profit organization born from the American Association Advertising Agencies (AAAA). The name was later shortened to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. The idea was to harness the power of the media, coupled with compelling research-based consumer advertising, to turn the tide on drug abuse trends, specifically among teens and youth. At the time, the nation was in the throes of the crack cocaine epidemic and we focused our efforts to help reduce demand for those drugs through our proven-effective public service advertising (PSA) campaigns and, today, crack and cocaine use is down 70 percent.
Throughout our history, we would come to win numerous advertising and efficacy awards for our PSA campaigns, which over the past two decades, have targeted other dangerous illegal drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, Ecstasy and other club drugs. But the current drug landscape has changed drastically as kids have become more savvy than generations before them. Through technology, American youth literally have the world at their fingertips, making it even more important for parents to breakthrough as the prominent influence in their kids’ lives.
Over the past several years, we have expanded our work, now including underage drinking, and focused on parents as our key leverage point, not only in preventing teen substance abuse, but in getting help for a child who is struggling with drugs or drinking. We have dedicated the lion’s share of our efforts to developing robust, science-based, online resources — which we promote to parents and caregivers, utilizing those long-standing relationships with advertising agencies, media, government and business. With grants from the US Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, we’ve augmented our online resources to include community education programs that have begun to take our parent education to the grassroots level.
Today, in talking and engaging with parents on our website, at our community education trainings and via our grassroots partners and parent advisors — we know they are looking for help. And parents are finding the help they need through our programs and at drugfree.org.
Entering a new decade, we begin with a new name, The Partnership at Drugfree.org, and an evolved mission: to help parents prevent, intervene in and find treatment for drug and alcohol use by their children.
We are here for parents, a voice of hope and understanding. We are offering support, tools, resources and answers.
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