The ads have already generated considerable controversy. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) defends the approach as one that builds on current American concerns about terrorism as well as the strong public support for fighting terrorism in any form. As President George W. Bush said in February when he introduced his drug budget for 2003, "it's so important for Americans to know that the traffic in drugs finances the work of terror, sustaining terrorists, that terrorists use drug profits to fund their cells to commit acts of murder. If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terror in America." Critics immediately pointed out certain factual limitations of this message: it may be true that terrorists benefit from the drug trade, but so do American allies, notably the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, who financed their struggle against the Taliban with profits from opium production for the heroin traffic. Even with newly won American assistance, the Northern Alliance continues to rely on drugs for much of its revenues. Moreover, very little Afghan heroin comes to the United States, which is supplied almost entirely by heroin (and cocaine) from Colombia and Mexico. In Colombia, as in Afghanistan, terrorist groups (like the FARC) are not the only organizations that benefit from drug profits. The paramilitary groups, who according to U.S. State Department reports, are responsible for most of the torture and mass killings in the countryside, work closely with the Colombian army, which receives hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. international narcotics control assistance. At a more immediate level here at home, does this new approach make sense for American teenagers, their friends, and families?

Quite apart from the question of their efficacy, the ads may in fact be harmful. The graphic images of teenagers taking pleasure in recounting their "terrorist" acts ("I helped murder families in Colombia") could have a perverse appeal to adolescents who see themselves as alienated outsiders in search of definition. For some of these young people, association with terrorism may serve to glamorize drug use and give it global impact.

The ONDCP has responded to criticism by citing recent polls that show that a majority of parents surveyed say they find the ads helpful in talking with their children about drug use. Research confirms the importance of parental involvement with their children, and in particular the child's sense of connection to parents. Building on this research, many of the anti-drug ads produced by the Partnership for a Drug Free America urge parents to talk about drugs with their children. But do we have to turn to terrorism to provide an opening for these conversations? The price seems high: the new ads in effect stigmatize teen drug users by equating them with terrorists, putting them beyond the reach of families, communities, prevention, and treatment. Is this the best way to spend scarce resources? Americans will judge for themselves. To see the ads, visit the web site www1.theantidrug.com

Mathea Falco, an attorney, is president of Drug Strategies. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotic Matters from 1977-1981.