About the competition

What's it all about?

The Drugs.ie 'Let's Talk about Drugs' National Youth Media Awards is an annual competition which encourages discussion of drug-related issues by inviting young people to produce a piece of original content relating to drug and/or alcohol use.

About the competition: Information for teachers

Download the document in the below link for more information.

Download for teachers

How to enter

Read the Tips on entering and Terms and conditions before you begin planning and working on an entry. These contain important information on the structure and submission of entries.
Pick a theme. The 2018 themes are divided into two categories. The first category is for 12-14 and 14-17 year olds. The second theme is for 18-21 and 22-25 year olds (see the themes below).
Conduct your research - see Tips on entering for research suggestions.
Create a piece of original content, based on your chosen theme, in one of the following formats: (a) News article; (b) Video/animation; (c) Audio recording; (d) Poster design.
Submit your entry along with a completed entry form. See the Enter the competition page for further details.

Age categories for entries are: 12-14; 15-17; 18-21; 22-25.

Entries will be accepted as a group project or an individual entry. Entrants can enter the competition as many times as they like by entering different formats on one or both themes OR by participating in a group project and submitting an individual entry.

Themes for 2018

The themes for 2018 are divided into two categories.

Themes for 12-14 and 15-17 age categories are:

Theme 1: Talk about – cannabis and the risks
Theme 2: Talk about – underage drinking and the risks

Themes for 18-21 and 22-25 age categories are:

Theme 1: Club drugs – what are the risks?
Theme 2: Performance and image enhancing drugs – what are the risks?

Posters for the two categories can be found at the Competition launch and resources page.

Deadlines & prizes

The deadline for entries has been extended until the 9th of April 2018.
Each category winner will receive €250 One4all gift card. There will be an overall winner selected from the 12-17 and the 18-25 categories. Each overall winner will receive €1,000 One4all gift card.
Judging will take place in February 2018. It is anticipated that the awards ceremony will be held in April 2018 in Dublin.

Funders and supporters

We are grateful to the following for their support in 2018: The HSE National Social Inclusion Office; The Drug Programmes and Policy Unit in the Department of Health; Healthy Ireland; and The Ana Liffey Drug project.

The Let's Talk about Drugs Media Awards was developed as a local competition by Greater Blanchardstown Response to Drugs in 2007. Since 2014 the initiative has been further developed as a national competition and is now managed by The Ana Liffey Drug Project