Winners Don't Use Drugs

"Winners Don't Use Drugs" is an anti-drug slogan that was included in arcade games imported by the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) into North America from 1989 to 2000.

[1] Sessions announced the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" program at a press event on January 10, 1989, in cooperation with the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA), who agreed to require arcade video games to include the slogan message while in attract mode.

The games Double Dragon, John Elway's Quarterback, and Tecmo Bowl were used on stage as examples for how the message would appear on the screen.

AAMA executive vice president Robert Fay announced that of the 20 video game manufacturers, 17 agreed to include the message in their software for all new machines.

[1] Sessions, Davenport and Fay worked through several iterations of the slogan, eventually coming to "Winners Don't Use Drugs" as a short, uplifting message that not only applied to video games but other facets of life.