DRUGS II: Another pop star you won’t...

DRUGS II: Another pop star you won’t find doing “Just Say No� spots is rapper Tone Loc. His upcoming “Cool Hand Loc� album features a pro-marijuana song, “Mean Green,� a follow-up to the similar-minded “Cheeba Cheeba� from his hit 1989 debut album. The new song has no apologies or disclaimers, but makes a point of separating pot from other drugs.

“I get asked to do a lot of ‘say no’ campaigns, and I always turn them down,� Loc said. “I’d do a ‘say no’ to cocaine campaign, no problem. I’m not down with any other drugs. But I’m no hypocrite.

“I’m not saying smoking bud is OK, not trying to glorify it. I’m just saying this is what Tone Loc does. If you want to know the artist, you gotta know what he does.�

HERE COMES THE HAMMER: Hammer Time is going prime time. Capitol Records is spending as much as $1 million on what is being billed as an unprecedented TV advertising blitz to promote the Oct. 29 release of Hammer’s “Too Legit to Quit� album.

Reminiscent of the original “Bo Knows� Nike ads, eight 15- and 30-second spots will feature Hammer (who recently dropped the M.C. from his name) and several sports stars displaying the “Too Legit� hand signs: two fingers up, followed by an L formed with the thumb and forefinger. Among the athletes are American League home run co-champs Jose Canseco and Cecil Fielder, retired slugger Reggie Jackson and basketball’s David Robinson.

“These are like trailers for a movie,� Jean Riggins, Capitol’s vice president of artist development, said of the campaign. “We’re creating our own avenue of promotion.�

With the sports emphasis, it’s only natural that Capitol is buying a lot of ESPN time for the spots, but it’s also going for Arsenio Hall and, next Sunday, the whole slate of the Fox network’s evening lineup. Capitol is also planning smaller prime-time pushes during the Christmas sales season for the latest works from Bonnie Raitt, Bob Seger, Tina Turner, Richard Marx, Heart and Poison.