The ads, which made their debut during the Super Bowl, said buying drugs from street dealers could fund terrorist activities. In the past, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) typically ran advertisements that focused on the dangers caused by drugs, such as the familiar "this is your brain on drugs" ad.

The new approach was met with mixed reactions from drug experts. "It's a cynical, cheap shot to take in the current political environment," said Matthew Briggs, an assistant director of New York's Drug Policy Alliance. "To make it sound like a kid who smokes pot is responsible for putting cash in the hands of Osama bin Laden is ludicrous."

Chris Canter, director of the Walden House Foundation in San Francisco, Calif., believes the ads missed their target audience. "My initial reaction is that I thought it was kind of compelling," he said. "But when you think about it, probably your most problematic addicts aren't watching the game anyway."

Canter added, "It seems like everybody is trying to link everything to terrorism. This ad, I felt, missed its mark."

The two Super Bowl ads cost about $3.5 million. The ONDCP also plans to run similar ads during a four-to-six-week nationwide campaign. In addition to television, the $10 million campaign includes advertisements on radio and in 293 newspapers.

"We're not blaming Americans for terrorism, we're blaming terrorists for terrorism," said John Walters, director of ONDCP, in defending the campaign. "We're telling Americans that if they use drugs, they should be aware that some of that money is being used to support terrorism in many cases."

A spokesman for ONDCP also noted that teens in focus groups "showed a strong decline in intention to use" drugs after being shown the ads.

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