Portland the site for launch of national teen anti-drug campaign
By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian
June 08, 2010, 7:43PM
View full sizeGil Kirlikowske, director of national drug control policy, talked with Portland-area students about drug and alcohol issues Tuesday. Among the students who talked with Kirlikowske are (from left) Cleveland High freshman Vanessa Altree, McCoy Academy senior Joshua Slaney, Wilson High freshman Gerhett Moser and Wilson senior Chloe Jones.A new White House-backed teen anti-drug campaign, designed in part by Portland high school students, has hit screens and the streets across the Portland area and will soon go nationwide.
The campaign, officially launched by White House Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske in the Bronx on Monday and at Portland's Wilson High on Tuesday, will be very different from the one that preceded it.
Dubbed "Above the Influence," it is designed to give teens the chance to talk and interact about the positive influences that keep them above drug and alcohol use and ways to counter the negative influences that tempt them in that direction.
Already, the distinctive upward-pointing arrow of the campaign has been plastered on billboards, bus shelters and benches around the Portland area. Look for it on TV, on video panels at Lloyd Center and on your smart phone, your FaceBook page and in other new media displays.