A US-created, five-year anti-drug advertising campaign, which has used everything from fried eggs to firearms to deter drug use, has worked in the US and Bermuda.

This is the view shared by local and US anti-drug who believe the "Say No'' message has gotten through, at least to some.

Independent US surveys conducted for the campaign -- launched by a group of supersalesmen calling themselves Partnership for a Drug-Free America -- show that drug experimentation among youths was down significantly.

For example, nearly eight percent of 13-year-olds said they had tried marijuana in 1991 compared to 16.3 percent in 1987. Among 17-year-olds surveyed, nearly 48 percent had tried pot compared to 57.6 percent in 1987.

Polls show there was a change in attitudes as well.

One study found 71 percent of 13-to-17-year-olds believed there was a risk involved in marijuana use, up from 63 percent in 1987. And 69 percent felt the same way about cocaine, up from 62 percent in 1987.

The "Say No'' advertising "has helped shift the mind set of America about the acceptability of drugs,'' said Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal, director of the Phoenix House drug treatment facility in New York City.

"I think it has helped firm up the resolve of most mainstream Americans that drug abuse is not sensible... and that drug abuse is not a chic, `in' thing to do.'' And he hailed the Partnership for its work in keeping the country focussed on the drug issue.

Director of Bermuda's Montrose Substance Abuse Centre Mr. Edward Richardson agreed.

While Bermuda could not measure the success of the campaign, he said "without a shadow of a doubt, it helps educate the public.

"That alone is a plus because the more it comes to people's attention, the better,'' he said.

However, he noted all advertisements are not the same and their effectiveness depended on their quality. "Saying say no to drugs for people who have problems does not go far enough,'' he said. "We need more ads that will help to deal with the intricacies that lead people to drugs...efforts to look at wellness as a whole.

"Generally the anti-drug campaign is working. But we should try to instill as much quality into programmes and definitely make use of the media to educate and talk about positive things that young people are doing. So people can say `Gee, I'm not a freak to not be involved in drugs.' '' Mr. Calvin Ming, executive director of th National Alcohol and Drug Agency, also expressed concern about quality and frequency of anti-drug advertisements in Bermuda.

While the impact of such advertising has not been measured -- other than information on how the advertisements effected youngsters in the 1991 Bermuda Secondary School Drug Survey -- he believes it has had some impact.

The secondary school survey showed that almost all students (96.5) percent saw anti-drug messages or advertisements on television, but a majority of them (57.6 percent) did not find them particularly effective.

The survey stated: "The fact that this figure has increased somewhat over the 1987 percentage (54 percent) suggests growing disaffection with much of the anti-drug media campaign and calls out for a new strategy''.

However, the survey also noted that drug use among students declined overall from 1987.

Mr. Ming said Bermuda, which began running the advertisements in 1989, has not received the "full thrust of the ads''.

"While we have given television stations as well as the print media opportunity to run those ads, they have not always seen fit to do so.'' he said.

NADA would like to see the US advertisements localised and hopes to create a coalition to handle this.

"We, as with most of the professionals in Bermuda, believe there are some issues that are unique to Bermuda,'' Mr. Ming said.

NADA community coordinator Mrs. Althea Overbey, who called the local advertisements sporadic but effective, hopes to visit the Partnership in New York in September to discuss making the advertisements more applicable to Bermuda.