Downer on Drug Films

When the National Institute of Mental Health in 1968 first launched its nationwide mass-media campaign against drug abuse, many other organizations also took up the cause, and regiments of film makers and pamphleteers rushed forward to enlist--and, not coincidentally, to acquire some of the Government money that was made available. Last week the National Coordinating Council on Drug Education announced an assessment of these films--and it was a distinct downer.

After evaluating 220 of the 300-odd specimens available, the council rated 31% unacceptable, 53% usable only with careful guidance, and just 16% "scientifically and conceptually acceptable." One film, Drugs and the Nervous System, was singled out for "misleading statements," such as a claim that LSD causes permanent brain damage. Another, "LSD: Insight or Insanity," was described as drawing on "rare, infrequent and experimental" results to depict the dangers of LSD use. According to Richard M. Earle, president of the council, the majority of the films exaggerate drug problems in ways that are "so inaccurate, so unscientific, so psychologically unsound that [they] are doing more harm than good."

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