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I'm looking for a word that gives the same meaning as advocate below, but with a negative twist:

He advocates not doing drugs.

I want to present this better, and emphasize that "He" stands behind (i.e. advocates) not doing drugs.

This sentence, for example, does not work:

He recommends not doing drugs.

Edit: To be clearer, ideally it would read as if he physically worked against it, like (I'd say) advocate implies.

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  • Anti-drug activist?
    – Autoresponder
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 12:31
  • You can also champion a cause you believe in.
    – Autoresponder
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 12:34
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    Not doing something is not “an act”. I think you must mean “To advocate against doing something”. So are you looking for some synonym of “advocate against” then?
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 14:55
  • Okay, this is awkward. My brain thought that advocate against couldn't possibly work in this context. I'll go have a coffee now. Thanks everybody.
    – Henning Klevjer
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 15:19
  • To me, the answer would be "discourage" (i.e., He discourages doing drugs.).
    – Benjamin Harman
    Commented Sep 2, 2019 at 23:34

3 Answers 3

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If he actively talks people out of drugs, or similarly works towards the cause as you seem to imply, continue to use the word advocate with the negation following it:

He advocates against doing drugs.

While on the topic, a different phrase set may also work well. 'Doing drugs' is informal/ slang; drug abuse might be more formal.

He advocates against drug abuse.

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3

How about "condemn"? "Proscribe"? "Denounce"?

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He opposes the use of drugs.

He disapproves of drug use.

UPDATE

He campaigns against drug use.

He discourages against the use of drugs.

He is a vocal opponent of drug use.

He is critical of those who use drugs.

He fights against drug use.

He is an advocate of the War on Drugs.

He is a champion of the anti-drug movement.

UPDATE

He advocates drug abstinence.

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  • I think I was a little unclear above. Advocating something suggests that the advocate is actually working for what he advocates. My "negative advocate" would therefore work against. So disapproval and opposition is a little more passive than what is my goal.
    – Henning Klevjer
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 12:24
  • Advocates drug abstinence?
    – TechWriter James
    Commented Dec 11, 2012 at 16:14
  • I think very few people would include the word against in "He discourages against the use of drugs". I've never heard that usage before, but it sounds a bit archaic.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 12, 2012 at 0:21
  • @FumbleFingers 23,800 matches on google for "Discourage against" and 6,170 for "Discourages against". Doesn't sound archaic to me, perhaps its more common in certain regions.
    – Baz
    Commented Dec 12, 2012 at 9:25
  • @Baz: If it doesn't sound at least a bit odd to you I suppose very likely there's a regional difference. I was overstating when I said I've never heard that usage before - I think I probably just ignore what I see as the superfluous word. But Google Books has 2470 hits for "discouraged having", and only 3 for "discouraged against having", which I think clearly indicates that most people don't use it.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 12, 2012 at 16:01

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