When it comes to drug use, there is a moment of choice. Welcome to The Marketing Accelerator Podcast, featuring three insights in about three minutes. I'm Drew Dinkelacker, and today I'm speaking with Angie Ferguson. For the last 18 years, she's been leading Drug Free Clubs of America - that's an organization committed to keeping high school students drug-free.

Drew Dinkelacker: Angie, your father and a fellow firefighter were inspired to get this concept started. What was the trigger for this inspiration?

Angie Ferguson: Well, sadly, it was an incident where they had a run, they were at the firehouse, they had a run where they were called to a scene where there was a young boy involved in a substance-related incident. This 15-year-old boy, they actually lost that day, and they were incredibly frustrated by the fact that there seems to be so much that's done among our society for people who are facing addiction, but not enough to stop it from happening in the first place. So that's where they went to work, coming up with whatever they could do about it.

Drew: And that was the inspiration for Drug Free Clubs of America. Angie, can you describe for me the basics of how this program works in schools?

Angie: Yeah, so it's all based on positive reinforcement. So, they start with giving students the opportunity to choose to join the program; it's not mandatory. Once they choose to join, they have to pass a drug test to earn their membership, but that drug test result does not go to the schools. It goes just to parents and to our doctors, so they can have a conversation if something is found. And the students who do earn their membership into Drug Free Clubs, then get lots of positive reinforcement all throughout the year that is designed by their peers.

Drew: Can you give me an example of one of those reinforcements?

Angie: Sure, so student officers have come up with lots of things that we as adults wouldn't think of, like go to the front of the lunch line on chicken nugget day, or get your car out of the parking lot five minutes early, half-court shot contests, all things that just elevate them and recognize them for making these choices.

Drew: Life is full of peer pressure, and it feels like that peer pressure is highest during the high school years. How does this program equip your members to deal with that?

Angie: Probably in a couple of different ways. So, first of all, the drug test itself serves as a sort of safety net. So, when they are in that moment of choice on a Friday or Saturday night and they're offered something, or even before a party, if they know that that opportunity is going to be there, they'll know they can say, "I can't 'cause I get tested." And that helps them escape that situation. But then also within the reward strategy, they become visible as somebody who is choosing to be drug-free. So that moment of choice sometimes can even be avoided so that their peers don't even offer because they see them staying drug-free.

Drew: What I love about this program is its deep understanding of human behavior of the target market, and that applies to non-profits like Drug Free Clubs of America or your for-profit business.

Drew: The Marketing Accelerator Podcast is a production of MarketingAccelerator.com, where we help business leaders gain confidence in their marketing efforts and help marketers develop into high-performing leaders. I'm Drew Dinkelacker.