cannabisnews.com: Drug War Confidential Drug War Confidential Posted by FoM on December 15, 2000 at 09:55:06 PT By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist Source: S.F. Gate It's all very sweet and rather cute and seems innocent enough on the surface, clever animations and pithy catchphrases and young kids looking all serious into the camera, until you scrape away the rhetoric and the calculated deception to reveal the beady eyes of the government, drug czar Barry McCaffrey in particular, spearheading another swell national campaign/survey asking kids aged 9-17 what they use in their daily lives to thwart the evil spectre of illegal drugs. "Music" and "family" and "sports" rather unsurprisingly popping right to the top of the list of positive influences, but of course "ugly national misinformation campaigns orchestrated by disingenuous government bureaucracies whose sole intention seems to be lying outright to pretty much everyone about the true effects of drugs and drug culture in America" not appearing on the survey at all, remarkably. And then impish Irony steps in and points out how the very forces that tend to urge kids *toward* the casual use of drugs in the first place are quite often the *same three cultural forces*, music and family and sports (followed, interestingly, by "friends" and "life" and "the existence of Britney Spears"). It's a constant pop culture image-barrage of happily stoned hip-hoppers and ever-dysfunctional TV families and steroid-jacked painkiller-addicted sports robots all making casual drug use appear very appealing indeed though still somewhat negative, which isn't the point either. Here it is: Here's where the truth comes in, cautiously. Here's where the conversation begins about how the vast majority of drugs in America are used casually and recreationally, generally without harm or addiction or victimization or the smashing of anyone's skull or molestation of anyone's daughter. Point being that all you hear about are the fringes, the criminals, the horrible negative news about drugs and drug culture and how they're ravaging the inner cities and preying upon the underprivileged classes, as if drugs were the source of all evil and the problems in question were not in fact due to a vicious lack of education and opportunity and economic development in these areas, as orchestrated by the very organization bleating out anti-drug propaganda in the first place -- the federal government itself. To put it another way: It ain't the drugs, stupid. And by no means do I endorse rampant drug abuse in this regard, by no means am I trying to underplay the tragic problems in the inner-cities, nor am I saying hey drugs are cool everyone should try them especially uptight politicians and the religious Right who could really use something to help them lighten the heck up. But Jesus with a Grateful Dead one-hitter, if we really start believing all the disinfo the Office of National Drug Control Policy whitewashes our direction, if we really fall for the argument that says the problem is massive and violent and all drugs are bad all the time, then I can guarantee a deep and untenable chasm between myth and reality will quickly develop, a major gulf between fear-mongering hype and streetwise common sense into which will fall reason and a clearer understanding of human nature. But thankfully it's a chasm (and a message) which I think most teens already suspect is designed to make them ignorant and uninteresting and do you really want to talk about where our general mistrust of the government comes from? You want to pinpoint the time when youth starts to feel jaded overall and suspicious of naive national policy in particular? It starts right here. Note: Another anti-drug campaign aimed at kids, another assault on common sense.Source: S.F. GateAuthor: Mark Morford, SF Gate ColumnistPublished: Friday, December 15, 2000 Copyright: 2000 SF Gate Contact: mmorford sfgate.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/Related Articles:Anti-Drug Campaignhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7984.shtml US May Be Overbilled in Drug Campaign http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7983.shtml Drug Czar Attacked on Media Campaignhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7258.shtmlPropaganda for Dollars http://cannabisnews.com/news/4/thread4317.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by FoM on December 15, 2000 at 11:26:24 PT You might want to register TroutMask, You better register your name. That way this can't happen. Just a suggestion not a demand by any means.Peace, FoM!http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/register.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by TroutMask on December 15, 2000 at 11:22:26 PT Needless to say... FYI, I didn't post that last one. Too bad some children aren't well supervised and have access to computers without their parents' permission. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by TroutMask on December 15, 2000 at 11:02:09 PT I'm a nugget! Thats right! I'm a complete loony bin and don't know what I'm talking about! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by TroutMask on December 15, 2000 at 10:27:48 PT Great One That is a great article. I hope I can remember the phrase "But Jesus with a Grateful Dead one-hitter" to crack up my friends. LOL! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: