On the Effectiveness of Media Actions in Fight against Narcotics in Iran

Informing and demonstrating the harmful and negative consequences of narcotics is an effective way to reduce this problem. Today, the education and prevention of addiction have become easier due to the development of mass communication technologies and their effectiveness. Media is a suitable tool for education, awareness raising, and public participation in preventing addiction. Over the past years, the media have become widespread in this regard. The current study sought to answer the question of how effective the various media actions in the field of control and prevention of addiction have been.
The research method in this paper was descriptive-analytic and the method of data collection was of a survey type. The statistical population of this study included the total population of the country. A multi-stage cluster sampling was used for sampling.
The results of this research showed that the effectiveness of media actions has been weak. This weakness is more evident in areas where drug use is more prevalent. The higher effectiveness and efficiency of the media belonged to TV, internet sites, newspapers, and radio, respectively. The media in this area were more targeted at informing purposes, while educational and training goals were less important. The focus of the media has been on youth age groups, children, and adolescents.
Generally, people held very little satisfaction with the effectiveness of various media actions.