Telling kids something will disrupt their mental development will not deter any of them from trying or using pot.

Kids know very well that smoking cigarettes is addictive and deadly, but they still try it. They know that most alcoholics start young and end up destroying their own lives, yet young kids are still drinking away their Friday nights.

It's been proven time and time again that the health aspect of anti drug/smoking/drinking campaigns is the LEAST effective way to sway teenagers and pre-teens.

Beyond those ads, there are the ones that feature teens and kids promoting an anti-drug message. Instead of these being REAL teens, they are some exec's idea of what teens are. Most teens are insulted by this. The majority of anti drug ads are meant to identify with teens and tweens, yet all they do is pander to the idea of what someone middle aged or older imagines what a teen is.

Kids today typically spend an inordinate amount of time on sites like youtube, myspace, deviantart, and livejournal. Places where they watch videos, read blogs and look at photos and art made by people their age. They dont have to watch TV programs made to falsely identify with their age group. Anymore, the majority of teens and tweens want something that taps into the growing teen culture of things that are DIY, quirky, artsy, home-made.

I'm 19 with friends ranging from 17-21. I'm one of the "kids" you're talking about, and I honestly think this is a good ad. It doesn't underestimate our intelligence by showing a "cool" guy talking about drugs. It doesn't pressure us by saying "nobody will love you!". And it doesn't tell us the one thing we're tired of hearing "You aren't invincible, every choice you make concerning drugs will KILL YOU!!!". We're young, of course we think we're invincible, we won't believe those ads until we see that happen. Three people in my high school died in separate accidents caused by drunk driving. And you know what? All the kids there STILL drink, and a lot of them still drive while intoxicated.

These ads picks at the two things that teens actually worry about when it comes to drug use, acceptance by our peers, and the worry of chemical dependency. Trust me, I know, I'm one of those teens. The biggest drama I've seen come out of people my age smoking pot isn't that they went on to jail, led a life of crime, accidentally killed someone, or ended up with a low sperm count. The biggest problems for these people was that their sober friends could not STAND their substance use. They lost friends, acceptance and respect. You tell me ONE thing that is more important to a kid in high school than those three.

This ad has made a perfect example of these issues.