“Just Say No”

The “Just Say No” campaign was a public health initiative started by Nancy Reagan during the Reagan administration. The campaign arose from the substance-abuse prevention programs favored by the National Institutes of Health. These programs were initially undertaken at the University of Houston's Social Psychology Program under Dr. Richard I. Evans's leadership. Evans, along with a research group at the university, advocated for what he termed a “social inoculation” model that was meant to provide children and youth with the psychological and interpersonal skills necessary to resist peer pressure and other social influences that might lead to drug use. Although popular with certain constituencies, the “Just Say No” program has been derided by many as ineffective and inept and focusing on drug problems that affected the middle class at the expense of lower-income groups.

During the 1960s psychologist William McGuire examined the concept of medical inoculations, exploring how something was introduced into the body to help fight off harmful diseases and sought to apply this concept to human social behavior. McGuire believed teaching a child to resist peer pressure would increase his or her capacity to resist it during his or her adulthood. Similar to the way that the body becomes immune to diseases after exposure to a pathogen, social inoculation theory sought to expose children to certain information related to undesirable conduct before that behavior was seen in the child. Children were presented with a situation, namely the offer to engage in recreational drug use, and then shown how to reject the opportunity. Social inoculation theory posited this would prevent children's future participation.

As a result, schools began to disseminate anti-drug information, including discussing illegal drugs, in an effort to prevent future drug use. Anti-drug communication was also emphasized in daily conversations and other interactions between children and adults. This anti-drug approach made Nancy Reagan willing to commit much of her time to the program. In 1984 alone, for example, she made 110 appearances and 14 speeches promoting the “Just Say No” approach. Further encouraging this message, she held a three-day anti-drug forum in Washington and Atlanta for the spouses of two dozen heads of state.

The “Just Say No” campaign has spawned other groups such as Stedman Graham's Athletes Against Drugs (AAD), founded in 1985, which appeal to specific demographic groups of children. These programs, which often feature athletes and other celebrities, attempt to show that drugs are everyone's problem, and not limited to certain groups. Youth who are at risk for substance abuse and other problems also benefit from the availability of activities that are free of alcohol, illicit drug use, or tobacco. Consequently, groups such as AAD and the many others that have advocated the “Just Say [Page 437]No” message seek to provide information coupled with activities for children. Social inoculation advocates believe that peers serve as the principal source of information—consequently, programs also provide safe environments where anti-drug information can be disseminated among peers.

Often, “Just Say No” programs are criticized as focusing too heavily on social inoculation, which does not work with those already using or addicted to drugs. This shortcoming was also found in earlier anti-drug operations. Indeed, providing clichéd messages or statements not grounded in fact seldom has the desired effect, instead creating mistrust of adults and an increased reliance on peers for information about illicit substances. In 1988 an analysis argued that programs such as “Just Say No” and DARE have little impact on children. Instead, such programs are seen as mainly educating parents and supporting their belief that because their children have received an education about drug use and abuse, their children will be less likely to engage in the undesirable behavior.

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