You've seen public-service ads on television warning about the danger of drugs, and telling parents how to talk to their kids about drug use. Now, the group that brought many of those ads to your TV screen is taking a different approach to the drug problem: encouraging people with addictions to get treatment, and those who love them to intervene to get help for addicted family members or friends.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA) launched the "Hope, Health, and Healing" campaign in Cincinnati in January in partnership with the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati (CDFGC). The targeted multimedia campaign includes an interactive website, InterveneNow.org offering tips on how to conduct an intervention and information on treatment and other recovery resources. The campaign also features public-service announcements for TV, newspapers, radio, and billboards and a local toll-free hotline for people seeking help.

Local coordinators in Cincinnati and the other campaign test city -- Houston, which will launch the project on March 3 -- will work with local advocates and media outlets to publicize stories of individuals and families who have experienced addiction and recovery.

"We have a strong relationship with the local media, who have committed to run the ads," Rhonda Ramsey Molina, president and CEO of CDFGC, told Join Together. "We're going to be wrapping the community in this message."

Such deep involvement with a campaign centering on treatment and recovery represents a extension of CDFGC's mission. "Although the coalition has historically focused on prevention, we believe it is critical to begin looking at the cycle of addiction," said Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who serves as the founding chairman of CDFGC. Added Molina: "Providing an environment where adults are not using drugs complements our mission."

The reaction to the campaign from the treatment and recovery community in Cincinnati has been positive, Molina said. "People see it as an advocacy and education tool," she said. "One of the benefits of this initiative has been to bridge the gaps between the prevention and treatment communities. We're both really working on the same issue, which is helping youth and the community."

Jay Stahl, executive director of Cincinnati's Recovery Resource Center, Inc., an education and treatment provider, tells Join Together he has seen two of the Hope, Health, and Healing ads on local TV, describing them as "pretty powerful." Stahl said the impact of the ads could go beyond getting people to seek out treatment. "I think the more important impact will be to educate the public and help them rethink their views on what addiction is all about," he said.

According to PDFA officials, the ads directly challenge public attitudes about addiction, recovery, and treatment. One spot says, "If I had cancer, you'd understand I'd need treatment, not a lecture." Another illustrates the problem of denial with a vignette showing a man choking in a restaurant while his son says, "Everything's fine. We're going to take care of it." Every ad includes a toll-free number to call for information, assessments, and treatment referrals.

The campaign was based on extensive consumer research on attitudes about addiction, stigma and shame, and why people with addictions don't seek help. Join Together/Demand Treatment staff, as well as experts from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, provided advice and assistance.

"We need to improve public understanding of this problem and what to do about it, said Ginna Marston, executive vice president of PDFA. "When we treat addiction as the progressive disease that it is, more people will seek help."

Added SDFGC's Molina: "We're hoping the campaign will start a dialogue and lead more policymakers to see this as a disease and see the need to allocate more resources to it."

The Hope, Health and Healing campaign is primarily funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the InterveneNow.org website is being funded by the Cardinal Health Foundation, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and Endo Pharmaceuticals.