PLATFORM : Positive Images

Even if heavy and poor users are aware of the danger of drugs, they have been unable to choose an alternative. What are the alternatives? Love. Work. Education. Creativity. Discipline. In a pinch, self-help, group help. To the users, drugs look better.

Can “Just Say No” make a case for heavy and poor users to stop or at least measure their drug use? How can it? To say no means saying yes to something else. It is difficult to say no when alternatives are not self-evident.

Improvement lies in making them more evident. We can sell the alternatives--sell them aggressively--with the power of television. Like this: “I wouldn’t have me any other way”(Colin Powell lecturing soldiers); “I’m at my best when I’m sober” (an executive leading a boardroom discussion); “Better than crack” (teen-agers kiss); “It’s got to be real” (Michael Jordan slam dunks); “Who said it would be easy” (a kid studying in the library); “We’ve got to stick together” (a dad or mom walking kids across the street.)