cannabisnews.com: Our Children Are Not Terrorists





Our Children Are Not Terrorists
Posted by FoM on February 09, 2002 at 21:37:16 PT
By Patrick Stephens
Source: WorldNetDaily
During last Sunday's Super Bowl, the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy aired the first two commercials of a new ad campaign linking drug use with terrorism. The ads, aimed at teen-agers, are meant to capitalize on the kids' growing sense of political awareness. Their message is simple: If you buy drugs, you might be financing terrorists. But, as is often the case, the simple message masks a more complicated reality. The administration acknowledges that teen-age potheads aren't terrorists.
But the ad campaign is pretty clear when it comes to what those little tokers are doing – they're helping to finance terrorism, kill judges, murder families and torture people. Sound a little extreme? It is. One television ad, titled "I Helped," features a series of teen-age faces reciting a litany of their crimes, "I helped kill a judge," "I helped kill policemen" and, of course, "I helped blow up buildings." These confessions are interspersed with the kids commenting, "I was just having fun" and "My life, my body." The audience is clearly supposed to get the message that drugs are not good clean fun, and that they affect more than just your life and your body – because buying drugs supports terrorism. But so does buying gasoline. Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization al-Qaida – you know, the people who actually do blow up buildings – are heavily financed by oil revenue, from the donations of oil-rich Arabs and from bin Laden's personal fortune. Are the kids who drive to the mall supporting terrorism? The problem with these ads is not that they're anti-drug; the problem is that they're absurd. Mom and her SUV are doing just as much to support terrorism as the local weed dealer, and there's an obvious refutation of the ads' message. If buying drugs supports international terrorism, then just buy local. After all, bin Laden and his cronies don't make any money from the "kind bud" growing in the basement. Even worse, the government's ads ignore the real reason that drug money supports terrorism: Drugs are illegal. You can buy a six-pack of beer from a safe, well-lit corner store. But you can't buy pot there. The ads aren't suggesting that last night's kegger helped mobilize the Basque separatist movement. It's not like picking up a pack of smokes and a couple of 40s means putting money into the pockets of Afghani poppy farmers. It's illegal drugs that the administration is claiming helps terrorism, not alcohol, nicotine, Valium, caffeine or Prozac. Making drugs illegal creates a black market. Reputable businesses don't deal in drugs, only criminals do. Buyers can't get warranties or refunds, and black markets raise prices. They raise prices so much, in fact, that people are willing to kill each other. You just don't see that happening with goods that are legal, like chocolate, for example. But if the government made chocolate illegal, then buying a candy bar would probably "support terrorism." That's the nature of a black market. All in all, these ads just make things worse. Teen-agers are young, and they might even be stoned, but they're not stupid. And we shouldn't treat them as if they are. They'll see through this propaganda, they'll recognize that the emperor has no clothes and they'll lose respect for the whole anti-drug message. We need to teach our children to be responsible – but we won't succeed if we treat them like fools. Drugs, both legal and illegal, can be dangerous. But drug use is just nowhere near as bad as killing judges, murdering policemen and blowing up buildings. We're at war with the terrorists who do those things. Are we at war with our children as well? Patrick Stephens is a writer for The Objectivist Center, a national not-for-profit think tank promoting the values of reason, individualism, freedom and achievement in American culture.Source: WorldNetDaily (US Web)Author: Patrick StephensPublished: Saturday, February 9, 2002Copyright: 2002 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.Contact: letters worldnetdaily.comWebsite: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/Related Articles:Winning Drug War Requires Tough Lovehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11955.shtmlDrugs and Terrorism - Weekly Standardhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11953.shtmlThe True Villain in Our Drug War is Prohibition http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11951.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on February 11, 2002 at 11:22:59 PT
Our terrorists are not children
At least the terrorists focused on a foriegn land, not their own.Our terrorists (DEA) insist on picking on their own kind.They help in the killing of American citizens for reasons less than noble.Time for a change, they must be getting tired of the same old same.It must be getting old.
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Comment #3 posted by Rainbow on February 10, 2002 at 09:57:33 PT
A to B
I am sorry but your point please?Rainbow
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Comment #2 posted by overtherainbow on February 10, 2002 at 05:58:51 PT
A to B
Once upon a time, when the land was covered in forest, a very small animal wanted to get from A to B, so it made its way through new, strange territory, leaving signs of its passage for the observant eyes of other creatures who followed it. As time went by, larger animals began to take thepath, which became easier and easier to find the more it was used. Then people discoverd that it was the best way to get from A to B. And the more the path was used, the easier it became to use it.
	Then the wheel was invented, and the path became even wider. Over time it changed and developed, and now we can get from A to B at enormous speed. And, because of all the other paths, which at one time did not exist, we can now go wherever we want, at whatever speed we choose.
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Comment #1 posted by Elfman_420 on February 10, 2002 at 02:17:18 PT
sorry, but there is a really bad contradiction....
Mom and her SUV are doing just as much to support terrorism as the local weed dealerDealing weed does NOT support terrorism, but I think he knows that. I'm sorry, but please be more carefull next time!
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