The watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) endorsed a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) finding that a media campaign aimed at reducing drug use was ineffective, and said its conclusions could be extended to the drug war in general.

PNN Online reported Sept. 7 that CAGW said that the ad campaign and the War on Drugs are a waste of taxpayers' money. "This new GAO report confirms what CAGW has been saying for years: billions of dollars marked for the war on drugs are being wasted on ineffective and counterproductive policies," said CAGW president Tom Schatz.

CAGW previously has criticized the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy -- which oversees the media campaign -- as inefficient and ineffectual. Noting that lawmakers still plan to spend $120 million on the media campaign next year, Schatz called on Congress to "admit its mistakes and free up federal dollars for more important priorities."