Mission: To make health a top priority for everyone in Northern Ireland.

Objectives:

• To provide the target group with accurate, credible information about illicit drugs.
• To raise awareness among the target group of the dangers associated with illicit drugs.
• To influence attitudes of the target group so they are prepared not to experiment with drugs.

Background:
In 1996 the Government launched the Northern Ireland Drugs Campaign.
One of the ways the Agency supported this campaign was in carrying out research and developing a public information campaign. Essential information from research on the prevalence of illicit drug use among young people and their attitudes, provided an insight into the type and format of information young people would find beneficial and accessible. On the basis of this the Agency developed a phased public information campaign which has been running for a number of years.

The campaign:
The campaign slogan 'Your body, your life, your choice' acknowledged that young people had to make up their own minds about drug use. It was launched in January 1997, initially targeting 10-13 year olds. Later in the same year 14-17 year olds were targeted. The campaign included television, radio and cinema advertising as well as a variety of printed materials and information on the net.

Altogether four television/cinema advertisements were developed. The television advertising which targeted 10-13 year olds was entitled 'Apple' and depicted the harmful effect of drugs by showing a decaying apple being eaten by maggots. The three advertisements developed for the older age group concentrated on three specific drugs, Ecstasy, LSD and speed and provided information about the effects of each.

In 1998 the 14-17 year old age group was again targeted using the Ecstasy, LSD and Speed television ads. This time the campaign also aimed to reach parents of young people, and written resources included a booklet entitled: Drugs and solvents - A guide for parents giving information about drugs as well as information on where parents can get help and advice if they think their child is taking drugs.

Click here to view the 'apple' television advert

Click here to view the 'ecstasy' television advert

Click here to view the 'LSD' television advert

With research showing that the average age for young people to be offered drugs is 11, another phase of the campaign was launched in January 2000, targeting 10-13 year olds. The campaign included a re-run of the 'Apple' television advertisement. It was supported by an information booklet:
What do you know about drugs? - your body, your life, your choice.
The booklet was distributed to P6 and P7 pupils. A new leaflet for parents entitled: Talking about drugs was also produced and distributed via schools.

In February 2002 the Agency once again targeted 14-17 year olds in the latest phase of this public information campaign. The television advertisements on Ecstasy, LSD and speed were re-run. An information booklet developed for this age group entitled: Your body, your life, your choice was distributed to fourth, fifth and sixth form students.

Evaluation:
Prior to the start of the campaign a benchmark study was carried out to provide baseline data against which the campaigns could be assessed.
The campaigns were evaluated using questionnaires.

The evaluations found that the television and cinema advertisements reached almost all the target population. Other materials, for example posters, had less but still good reach. The conclusion was that the campaigns had had some success in drawing young people's attention to negative aspects of drug use that they may not have previously considered. The campaigns appeared to have some impact on young people's knowledge of and attitudes towards drug and drug use. The evaluation of the 2000 phase indicated that the understanding of the message of the campaign had improved when compared to the evaluation of the initial phase of the campaign. A summary report of the evaluations is available online.