Anti-Drug Budget Now at $1 Bil.

The U.S. Congress is close to approving a $1 billion budget for a five-year anti-drug advertising campaign beginning in 1998.
Congress is expected to approve $178 million for 1998 and $195 million annually for the following four years in aggressive media spending, upping the ante considerably from the $150 million annual anti-drug campaign originally proposed by the Clinton administration [Adweek, Aug. 18].
Also last week, Porter/Novelli of Washington, D.C., was awarded a $1 million, 90-day contract to design a media plan and create the behemoth request for proposal for the effort.
The new budget numbers came out of a House and Senate Conference Committee last week and will likely be approved without much ado.