Does anyone remember the ads in which teenagers accidentally shot each other while high on Marijuana or in which a car full of boys hits a girl on her bicycle? These ads, while showing the dangers drug use can present, did not strike the right cord in youth. Teenagers in need of intervention or considering drug use are not going to be easily swayed by what might "possibly" happen in the worst case scenario.

Instead, the messages have changed to reflect what actually happens. Teens sit and do nothing while their friends live their lives. They melt into the couch, sit on the stoop and watch life pass them by. Hard drugs like Crystal meth turn them into crazed, dirtied addicts. I think these messages, which show teens the actual effects of drug use – how they affect the individual – are more effective for this reason. Teens cannot always fathom or do not often care how what they do affects someone else. But, if a bad decision turns their life into a waste, they are more willing to adjust and change their ways. Drug rehab for the current generation can be as simple as showing them how horrible their future will be if they take the wrong drugs – it might not always work, but it will surely be more effective than an outlandish, worst case scenario.

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