USING MASS-MEDIA TO REDUCE ADOLESCENT INVOLVEMENT IN DRUG TRAFFICKING

Objective. Drug trafficking among adolescents is a newly recognized hi gh-risk behavior that seems to be involving large numbers of youths. S trategies to prevent and/or alter this behavior must be developed and evaluated. In view of the high exposure of adolescents to the mass med ia, interventionists seeking to reduce adolescent risk behavior have i ncreasingly employed the media in their efforts to reduce adolescent r isk behaviors in general. However, not all risk behaviors may be amena ble to change as a result of this approach. Therefore, before utilizin g this approach to address adolescent drug trafficking, it is importan t to investigate previous efforts targeting related risk behaviors. Re sults. Mass media campaigns against the use of drugs have been common in the US and seem to have played a role in reducing consumption of bo th legal and illegal drugs. The most effective messages seem to focus on the risks of drug use and the social disapproval that attends use. The mass media may increase the influence of these antidrug messages b y changing the social climate surrounding drug use. Conclusions. The m ass media may be a particularly effective way to reach adolescents and their parents in communities in which adolescent drug trafficking is prevalent and to unite the institutions that could influence adolescen ts against involvement in the drug trade. However, intervention effort s must also contend with the economic incentives of the drug trade in poor, central-city communities.