The decision to distribute anti-drug, public service announcements over YouTube represents the first concerted effort by the U.S. government to influence customers of the popular service, which shows more than 100 million videos per day.

"If just one teen sees this and decides illegal drug use is not the path for them, it will be a success," said Rafael Lemaitre, a spokesman for the drug office.

The government's short public service announcements — all of which were produced previously for television — are highly polished. They will compete for viewership against hundreds of existing, drug-related videos including videos that describe how to grow marijuana and how to cook with it.

The government linked its videos with the terms "war on drugs," "peer-pressure," "marijuana," "weed," "ONDCP" and "420," so anyone searching for those words on YouTube could find its anti-drug messages.

Michael Bugeja, who studies how different groups use the Internet, said the White House plan is misdirected because online video services don't afford serious consideration to weighty topics.

"It's the wrong forum and the wrong target," said Bugeja, an author and director of the journalism school at Iowa State University.

In any event, these videos are sure to have people talking! And stay tuned for updates of the week’s newest political videos being posted on YouTube and other user-generated content sites.

PoliticsOnline is dedicated to keeping you up to date on the latest in politics and technology.

Tic Tic Video
Smushed Video
U.S. Uploads Anti-Drug Videos to YouTube