cannabisnews.com: White House Ad Campaign Goes to Pot White House Ad Campaign Goes to Pot Posted by CN Staff on September 25, 2002 at 13:20:55 PT By William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.com Source: CBS.MarketWatch.com What on Earth are they smoking over at the White House drug office?First, they bring back Ogilvy & Mather as lead agency on the $150 million account. The WPP Group unit, some may recall, lost the business when it got caught ripping off Uncle Sam by padding its timesheets. When Oglivy regained the business, it did so to howls of protest from Congress. A Senate committee promptly voted to slice 40 percent off the Office of National Drug Control Policy's ad budget -- proving that this bunch of drug warriors doesn't have a clue about how to do battle on the Hill, much less on the streets.Then, they launch a questionable drugs-equal-terrorism effort that alienates supporters including the Partnership for a Drug Free America and Allen Rosenshine, the head of Omnicom's BBDO Worldwide. And, considering how those folks feel about the drug issue, that was no small trick. Now, having decided that marijuana is Public Enemy No. 1 in the post-9/11 world, the ONDCP is investing a lot of its hard cash into a new crusade against a very soft drug -- and the same agency is helping it spend it.In one of the most deceiving -- and expensive -- anti-pot propaganda initiatives ever to come down the pipe, the ONDCP has brought out all the old lies about the demon weed, ironically in the name of "dispelling the myths."Marijuana causes brain damage. Marijuana is addictive. Marijuana can make you go crazy.Didn't we see this kind of thing before, maybe in "Reefer Madness"?But ONDCP doesn't just rely on long-discredited pseudo-science to make its anti-pot case; it has come up with unique fabrications of its very own. Buying a joint, we are ominously told in one ad that plays off "The House That Jack Built," supports all kinds of vile characters: dealers, smugglers and foreign drug cartels.It is true that most of those involved in the illegal drug trade do not exactly fit in with polite society. But it is also true that money from the gas in our tanks and the diamonds on our fingers goes to people who make Pablo Escobar look like Pee-Wee Herman.That, friends, is how the market works. The first rule of human economic interaction is that if something exists and someone wants to buy it, the two will come together.Profits from sales of cocaine and heroin do indeed benefit various armed criminal and political groups. However, most of the pot -- at least most of the good pot -- that Americans consume is grown right here in the U.S. of A. Some of its purveyors may be thugs, but, dammit, they are our thugs.In its literature, the ONDCP justifies its focus on pot by saying it is the most commonly used drug among youth. That might be the case, if you take alcohol, tobacco and caffeine out of the mix, but it really doesn't matter.Kids shouldn't smoke pot. They shouldn't drink, either. Or drive. Or swim without a lifeguard. But the fact remains that most people -- including most young people -- experiment with all of those things with little ill effect on themselves or the rest of us. The recent success of citizen initiatives to relax drug laws proves that, 35 years into the era of modern recreational drug use, most people understand this.It is way past time for the government to join them.William Spain is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in Chicago.Note: Commentary: Deception now de rigeur in ONCDP spots.Newshawk: observerSource: CBS.MarketWatch.comAuthor: William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.comPublished: September 25, 2002 Copyright: 1997-2002 MarketWatch.com, Inc. Website: http://cbs.marketwatch.com/Feedback: http://cbs.marketwatch.com/support/feedback.asp Related Articles:Networks Balk at Pot Spots http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14146.shtmlMore Deception in U.S. Drug Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11931.shtml New Drug War - ABCNews.com http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14128.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by Hope on September 26, 2002 at 10:03:12 PT Cool, GCW Bible Gateway at http://bible.gospelcom.net/ as got some special effects today. It didn't yesterday. They're cool, too. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by DANA on September 26, 2002 at 01:22:50 PT ....AQUALUNG... ..hearing talk of Jethro Tull......inspires me to write about this .It has nothing to do with Jethro Tull,but for once,it has alot to do with this article!...... .....I dont have cable TV,so I am limited in my veiwing options.I watch alot of PBS type channels here in the LA area,,so,,yesterday,I surfed by KOCE,Huntington Beach,,Public Television for Southern California,And there is this show,that is already in progress,and the first thing I see,is this guy who looks kinda like George Carlin,with echo on his voice;,,and he is saying,"..."..and all the other classic gov-jive...The show was funded by a grant from the DOE.It was all about kids and drugs,and this George Carlin guy was called "The Mentor",and he was on some sort of cyber VCR that these kids were operating,and the "VCR" had these giant buttons,and the kids were being instructed to push "fast forward",into the future events of their lives,and the VCR would show what would happen if they made the "wrong" decisions about drugs....(I recorded it on my normal VCR)....anyway,,It was astonishing!,,it went on for over an hour,and it showed stories of kids,(with actual kid actors,,obviously a big money production),......The entire thing was hoppin' with classic episodes with the "confused" kid,who gets harassed by the evil drug kids that try to convince the good kid to use drugs... The entire thing was surrealisticly freaky!..It showed the "bad kids",partying with beers,and pot,,heckling the main character,,saying stuff like,,"C'mon man,,have some of this pot,,it'll make everything OK,,here have some liquor,,"...etc.(at least they included liquor!?)........So,as the show went on,,it turns out that the VCR with "The Mentor" on it,could be rewound,and then it could show what happened if little Dick,or Sally had made the "right" choice.......the whole thing was grotesque,and phantasmagorical!.... ..The next episode,showed little Bobby,,and how his older brother,"Richie",somehow OD'd on crack or something,and went so far,as to show graphic scenes of the para-medics trying to revive Bobbys' brother with some of those heart jumper cables,,,and there were scenes of the medic saying "clear",,and Bobbys' brother spasmodicly writhing about,and then flashing to little Bobby,crying and wondering what would happen to his brother....They showed numerous haunting replays of Bobbys' brother getting these industrial cardiovascular shock treatments,and scenes of little Bobby crying, saying"..if only I had stopped him". .OK,,,now,if you are still with me,here is the significant part,,,,After the little Bobby thing,where we see his brother unsuccessfully revived by the medics,,,we get to see a "replay",of the whole event!,,,.An alternate episode on the Mentors VCR...This time,,little Bobby does the right thing,,he NARCS,on his brother to his teachers,and parents,and cops...In this segment,we were treated with scenes of Bobbys' older brother Richie,talking to his crack dealer on the phone.He is saying stuff like,"hey man!,,I need more now!",,and the crack dealer saying,"yea,I know what you want."..,and then,we see little Bobby working the phones,calling Mom,his teachers,the cops.............SO,,perhaps,it may have been a "good",show,or production in certain ways,,,but it was very reminiscent of a modern day 'Reefer Madness'...government funded,,shown on "public television"...The "Public",in public television,is about the same as the "People",in the peoples republic of ?....................... ..___.............too bad Aqualung is too lazy to proofread this wandering obsufocated expoundment! WOW....now we have mandatory proofreading!..That's OK,,I will still not proofread this particular post.I know that I didnt say anything too bad.,,although I may have misspelled "obsufocation"? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Dan B on September 26, 2002 at 00:20:18 PT This is new I have seen reports favorable to cannabis legalization on ABC, MSNBC, and even CNN, but I believe that this is the first time I've read something positive about cannabis legalization from a subdivision of CBS (CBS Marketwatch is, by the way, one of the more concervative subdivisions of CBS, being concerned with making that wealthy 1% happy and all). So, hats off to CBS, and may this brief experiment with sanity turn into a long-lasting and fulfilling relationship.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by The GCW on September 25, 2002 at 20:41:35 PT Awesome. "...WHAT GOD HAS CLEANSED, NO LONGER CONSIDER UNHOLY, WHAT GOD HAS CLEANSED, NO LONGER CONSIDER UNHOLY, WHAT GOD HAS CLEANSED, NO LONGER CONSIDER UNHOLY," Acts 10:15. It sounds so nice, God said it 3 times!The GCWConsider the ads as a quiz. When the ad comes on, count the lies and the most wins.There is more news coming out discrediting cannabis prohbition. And they are getting better and better.Prohbitionists have to separate themselves from Truth, to carry on. Who will the last holdouts of cannabis prohibition be? [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by karkulus on September 25, 2002 at 20:36:43 PT those ads Do you think those kids in those ads actually audition for the parts,or is some sort of "community-service" thing? [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by DdC on September 25, 2002 at 14:33:59 PT Way Way past time...Too Cozy Too Long... The recent success of citizen initiatives to relax drug laws proves that, 35 years into the era of modern recreational drug use, most people understand this.It is way past time for the government to join them. http://www.cannabinoid.com/wwwboard/politics/binaries/28/28306.jpg ¶8)Last time I heard no one ever snorted a coca leaf...Same Korpses Chemicals converting coca leaves into white powders are spraying ditchweed in Missouri comprising 99% of the "Cannabis Suppression Program" with DoW's generic Agent Orange or 5 times the usual dosage Monsanto's Roundup on Colombian natives. Monsanto = DDT, Agent Orange, Terminator Seeds and now hides under UpJohn Pharmaceuticals. All getting paid with tax money collected for D.E.A.th's undocumented pleasure and then these profits are tax sheltered through the Thugczars Philanthropy Rountable funding anti groups like FRCn DARE & PDFA. Profits on forced urine testing for all government contractors. Using media and Madison Ave to sell their product, the War on Ganja. Many are Bushit friends and co-workers but Klintoon and Hairy Browne have vested ignorance also. Americans do not employ government representatives, we elect them or elect representatives who appoint them. When C.E.O.'s become legislaters to profit their own companies whether its crude oil wars, meat subsidies and imunities, chemical adulteration or cannabis prohibition, its fascism by definition. Now some Americans are awakening to the fact this is not about pot or hippies its about Life, Liberty and the Persuit of Happiness. Peace, Love and Liberty or the Fascist D.E.A.th! DdCThe assassins of youth...FRCn, DARE, PDFA http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=105.topicThe Drug War Gravy Train By Daniel Forbes http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=71.topic Who is really behind the Partnership For A Drug Free America http://greenfield.fortunecity.com/swallowtail/204/partner1.htm Journalism and the Drug War http://www.november.org/0524.html The Media Foundation 1243 West 7th Ave Vancouver BC V6H 1B7 Web: http://www.adbusters.org MediaWatch 204-517 Wellington St. W. Toronto ON M5V 1G1 Web: http://www.mediawatch.ca Media Education Foundation Web: http://www.igc.org/mef PR Watch Center for Media & Democracy 3318 Gregory St. Madison, WI 53711 Web: http://www.prwatch.org Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) 130 25th St. New York NY 10001 Web: http://www.fair.orgMultinational Monitor Web: http://www.essential.org/monitor The A$$A$$INS of Youth Poster [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by jvthc on September 25, 2002 at 14:29:13 PT: Yes VitaminT Sorry 'bout that - you're right - CBSNews - my misread.And Malleus:I'm thinking of Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" as the musical background to your commentary. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by malleus on September 25, 2002 at 13:58:51 PT "Thick as thieves" And these thieves are pretty 'thick' in more ways than one. As in 'dense'. As in 'stupid'. Do they really think some kid pays them any attention? Do they really believe their own studies, when kids are asked questions they know adults only want one asnwer to, and it's not the true one, but the expected one? Most kids, you see their eyes glaze and pupils contract when they see this stuff on the tube. Signs of lack of interest. Boredom. And quiet contempt.If a truly honest study were ever made of the real impact these ads have had on kids, if the kids ever gave 100% honest opinions, the Congress would have to cut all funding from ONDCP for having failed so badly and wasted so much money doing so.All the war on drugs does is give jobs to people who have no other skills. And allow them to ruin the lives of people who do, people who work hard, pay taxes, support family and friends, help their neighbors, and generally live lives of much more service than these 'civil servants' ever have done in theirs. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by VitaminT on September 25, 2002 at 13:58:36 PT Let's give the credit to . . . CBS.MarketWatch.com instead of ABCNews [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by jvthc on September 25, 2002 at 13:32:49 PT: Isn't that special....... I've frequently wondered if there are underhanded kickbacks going on in the anti drug ad business. Now, for my first occasion, I see a little more than just a wild thought - a company known to have lied about it's accounting (a familiar bedfellow of our current administration) is once again involved in the same business of producing ads. What a wonderful job ABCNews is doing, here. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment