Editing Just Say No (section)

==Efforts==
[[File:Just say no (4647883256).jpg|left|thumb|A U.S. government [[Public service announcement|PSA]] from the [[Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration]] for the [[War on drugs]]]]
[[File:Nancy Reagan. White House Conference on Drug Abuse and Families (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Nancy Reagan]] hosts the First Ladies Conference on Drug Abuse at the [[White House]] in March 1982.]]
[[File:Nancy Reagan at a "Just Say No" rally at the White House.jpg|thumb|Nancy Reagan at a "Just Say No" rally at the [[White House]] in May 1986]]
[[File:Address to the Nation on Drug Abuse Campaign, September 14, 1986.webm|thumb|Address to the Nation on Drug Abuse Campaign on September 14, 1986]]
The "Just Say No" slogan was the creation of Robert Cox and David Cantor, advertising executives at the New York office of Needham, Harper & Steers/USA in the early 1980s. The firm was working with the [[Ad Council|Advertising Council]] on a media campaign for children, for the [[National Institute on Drug Abuse]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=June 22, 2016 |title=Robert Cox, Man Behind the 'Just Say No' Antidrug Campaign, Dies at 78 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/business/media/robert-cox-man-behind-the-just-say-no-antidrug-campaign-dies-at-78.html}}</ref> Nancy Reagan often attributed the origins of the phrase to a 1982 visit to Longfellow Elementary School in Oakland, California: when asked by a schoolgirl what to do if she was offered drugs by her peers, the First Lady responded, "Just say 'no'."<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1989/010489a.htm|title=Remarks at the Nancy Reagan Drug Abuse Center Benefit Dinner in Los Angeles, California|access-date=2007-10-03|publisher=Ronald Reagan Foundation|date=January 4, 1989|quote=... in Oakland where a schoolchild in an audience Nancy was addressing stood up and asked what she and her friends should say when someone offered them drugs. And Nancy said, "Just say no." And within a few months thousands of Just Say No clubs had sprung up in schools around the country.|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305201900/https://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1989/010489a.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Loizeau |first=Pierre-Marie |title=Nancy Reagan: The Woman Behind the Man |publisher=Nova Publishers |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59033-759-2 |pages=104–105}}</ref> Just Say No club organizations within schools and school-run anti-drug programs soon became common, in which young people were making pacts not to use drugs.<ref name="First Lady Nancy Reagan" />

When asked about her efforts in the campaign, Nancy Reagan said: "If you can save just one child, it's worth it."<ref>{{cite video|date=May 2005|title=Tribute to Nancy Reagan|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZM0ioS1g58 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/KZM0ioS1g58 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|medium= Motion picture| publisher=Motion Picture Association, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|access-date=2008-11-07|time=3:08}}{{cbignore}}</ref> She traveled throughout the United States and several other nations, totaling over {{convert|250000|mi|km}}.<ref name="First Lady Nancy Reagan">{{cite web|url=http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=41|title=First Lady Biography: Nancy Reagan|access-date=2008-11-09|publisher=National First Ladies Library|archive-date=May 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509085730/http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=41|url-status=dead}}</ref> Nancy Reagan visited [[drug rehabilitation]] centers and abuse prevention programs. With the media attention that the first lady received, she appeared on television talk shows, recorded public service announcements, and wrote guest articles.<ref name="First Lady Nancy Reagan"/> By the autumn of 1985, she had appeared on 23 talk shows, co-hosted an October 1983 episode of ''[[Good Morning America]]'',<ref name=pressoffice>{{cite web | url= http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/textual/smof/flpress.htm | title= First Lady, Press Office: Records, 1981–1989 | publisher= [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|Reagan Library]] | via= utexas.edu | access-date= July 17, 2010 | archive-date= March 5, 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160305210446/https://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/textual/smof/flpress.htm | url-status= dead }}</ref> and starred in a two-hour [[PBS]] documentary on drug abuse.<ref name="jb62">Benze, James G. (2005), p. 62</ref>

The campaign and the phrase "Just Say No" made their way into popular American culture when television series such as ''[[Diff'rent Strokes]]'' and ''[[Punky Brewster]]'' produced episodes centered on the campaign. In 1983, Nancy Reagan appeared as herself on ''Diff'rent Strokes'' to garner support for the anti-drug campaign.<ref name="Dynasty">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0560083/|title='Diff'rent Strokes': The Reporter (1983)|access-date=2007-10-18 |publisher= The Internet Movie Database| website= imdb.com}}</ref> She participated in a 1985 rock music video "[[Stop the Madness]]" as well.<ref>{{cite video|people=Brian L. Dyak (Executive Producer), William N. Utz (Executive Producer)|date=December 11, 1985|title=Stop the Madness|medium=Music Video|publisher=E.I.C.|location=Hollywood, California and The White House, Washington, DC |time=3:15}}</ref> She even appeared in numerous public service announcements, including one which aired in movie theaters where she appeared alongside actor [[Clint Eastwood]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://archive.kpcc.org/news/2016/03/07/58308/12-videos-from-nancy-reagan-s-just-say-no-campaign/|title=12 videos from Nancy Reagan's 'Just Say No' campaign|first=Mike|last=Roe|publisher=KPCC|date=March 7, 2016|accessdate=December 16, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-0OeOFuNXs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/L-0OeOFuNXs |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Clint Eastwood: Just Say No|author=Oscars|via=YouTube|date=12 October 2015|accessdate=16 December 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[La Toya Jackson]] became spokesperson for the campaign in 1987 and recorded a song titled "Just Say No" with British hit producers [[Stock Aitken Waterman|Stock/Aitken/Waterman]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/pop-culture-legacy-of-nancy-reagans-just-say-no-campaign-224749/| title= Pop-Culture Legacy of Nancy Reagan's Just Say No Campaign| magazine= [[Rolling Stone]]|first=Tessa|last=Stewart|access-date=12 September 2019|date= 7 March 2016}}</ref>

In 1985, Nancy Reagan expanded the campaign internationally. She invited the [[First Lady|First Ladies]] of 30 nations to the White House in Washington, DC, for a conference entitled the "First Ladies Conference on Drug Abuse".<ref name="First Lady Nancy Reagan"/> She later became the first First Lady invited to address the [[United Nations General Assembly|United Nations]].<ref name="First Lady Nancy Reagan"/>

She enlisted the help of the [[Girl Scouts of the United States of America]], Kiwanis Club International, and the National Federation of Parents for a Drug-Free Youth to promote the cause;<ref name="jb62"/> the Kiwanis put up over 2000 billboards with Nancy Reagan's likeness and the slogan.<ref name="jb62"/> Over 5000 Just Say No clubs were founded in schools and youth organizations in the United States and abroad.<ref name="jb62"/> Many clubs and organizations remain in operation around the country, where they aim to educate children and teenagers about the effects of drugs.<ref name="nrc"/>

Just Say No crossed over to the [[United Kingdom]] in the 1980s, where it was popularized by the [[BBC]]'s 1986 "Drugwatch" campaign, which revolved around a [[heroin]]-[[Substance dependence|addiction]] storyline in the popular children's TV drama serial ''[[Grange Hill (TV series)|Grange Hill]]''. The cast's cover of the original US campaign song, with an added rap, reached the UK top ten.<ref>{{cite web|last=Malvern|first=Jack|title=Just say no|work=The Daily Summit|publisher=British Council|date=December 12, 2003| url= http://www.dailysummit.net/english/archives/2003/12/12/just_say_no.asp}}</ref> [[Anna Wood (born 1980)|The death of Anna Wood]] in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]] and [[United Kingdom|British]] teen [[Leah Betts]] from [[Essex]] in the mid-1990s sparked a media firestorm across both the UK and Australia over the use of illegal drugs. Wood's parents even released her school photograph on a badge with the saying "Just say no to drugs" placed on it to warn society on the dangers of illicit drug use. The photograph was widely circulated in the media. A photo of Betts in a coma in her hospital bed was also circulated in British media. Both teenagers died due to [[water intoxication]] as they drank too much water after ingesting [[ecstasy (drug)|ecstasy]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/anna-woods-father-in-despair-as-another-teenager-dies/news-story/24b55f52cd2ffb1200adf3c35b5647a2|title=Anna Wood's father in despair as another teenager dies|first=Ashlee|last=Mullany|work=[[Daily Telegraph (Australia)|Daily Telegraph Australia]]|date=9 November 2014|access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/leah-betts-died-20-years-ago-we-still-cant-be-honest-about-drugs/|title=Leah Betts died 20 years ago and we still can't be honest about drugs| work= [[Daily Telegraph]]|date=16 November 2015|first=Daisy|last=Buchanan|access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref>