The group plans to re-survey the respondents in February to determine if exposure to PDFI public service ads has had a lasting impact. To measure the impact of the ads on teenagers, the Iowa State research team did focus groups with high school students from Roland-Story City, Gilbert and Nevada high schools. The participants agreed that the drug issue needs to be addressed with drug-prevention campaigns such as this one sponsored by the Partnership. It appears that the campaign has been successful in making Iowans in general aware of drug abuse as a social issue. Reaching young people with anti-drug messages is a worthy goal.
Teens get most of their anti-drug messages from radio.
Teens find few connections between their circumstances and those of celebrity spokespeople used in anti-drug ads. Teens are exposed to marijuana more often than any other illegal drug. Teens perceive parents as lacking knowledge regarding drugs and believe parents are ill equipped to discuss drugs with them. A lot of credit for the success of the Partnership for a Drug-Free Iowa goes to the hundreds of media partners and financial supporters who make the public service campaign possible.