| |
First, we have provided long-term support
for innovative institutions to bring the best resources to bear
on the problem. One example is The National Center on Addiction
and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, New York City, which
is helping to provide leadership and raise the quality and visibility
of research on substance abuse. Another example is The National
Center for Tobacco-Free Kids®, a collaborative
effort with other foundations and associations. The National Center
for Tobacco-Free Kids was the first ongoing institution created
to counter the tobacco industry’s aggressive campaign to hook
kids. The Center’s $13-million annual budget is small compared
to the approximate $5 billion the tobacco industry spends on marketing
each year. But it is an important, powerful counterpunch that has
increased the visibility of the problem of youth smoking in this
country.
Our second approach is to build public interest
and support. This means overcoming not just public apathy but public
antipathy toward substance abusers—some of the same attitudes
we struggled with internally when we first began to consider taking
on this issue. We are working to change public perceptions about
the substance abuser and the causes of substance abuse, largely
through the media.
Our support of public education efforts
began on a large scale with the support of The Partnership for a
Drug-Free America in 1989. More recently, we are proud to have funded
Bill Moyers’ extraordinary 1998 PBS® series,
“Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home,” and the extensive
outreach effort that accompanied it. Our media initiatives also
include the PRISM™ awards, which we co-sponsor with the National
Institute on Drug Abuse. These are awards given to Hollywood filmmakers
for excellence in creative work dealing with substance abuse.
Our public education efforts are not limited
to the media. We also support an effort to enlist and help the spouses
of state governors to serve as state and national spokespersons
on the issue of underage drinking. As of this writing, 29 spouses
are participating in the effort.
Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | >>
© Copyright 2002 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Click to
read our Web Policies
|
