With the economy in the tank and wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq, it's very easy to forget about the other, other war, the war on drugs.
Unless of course you are one of the hundreds of thousands currently in prison for non-violent drug crime. Then it's kinda hard to ignore.
And how are our tax dollars being spent. Why Public Service Announcements. One's that are edgy, hip, and absolute bullshit.
http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/...
These particular ads are from the Above the influence campaign. Their logo is an arrow pointing up.
I suppose the message they are going for is "you should be above smoking weed."
But if your "above something", aren't you high?
Couldn't they think of a logo that stoners aren't going to wear on a t-shirt?
How can they relate to the kids? How can they gonna grab their hearts and minds?
http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/...
Wow, I mean, this isn't funny but at least it's not an enormous waste of taxpayer funds right?
Whoops. It is an enormous waste of taxpayer funds. To the tune of billions of dollars.
And much like the "abstinence only" campaign, these ads have little to no effect on kid's attitudes and even encourage some kids to try elicit drugs.
It's the old adage,tell a kid not to do something, they are probably going to do it. "Don't push the red button". They push the red button.
But drugs aren't so simple.
You can't just say don't push the buttons.
Kids aren't that stupid.
You can't explain that some red buttons will make you hungry, giddy or paranoid, some red buttons can cause addiction, overdoses and death, and some red buttons are responsible for language and the Sergeant Pepper.
The red button logic that we understand drugs through is ass-backwards
And here we are. The logical outcome of a red button world where Parents are now wardens, because the kids are OUT OF CONTROL I tells yeah.
Yes, you can be your children's personal DEA agent!
From ABC
Ali and his handler are now working for a new company in New Jersey called Sniff Dogs.
The company, which also conducts business in Ohio, rents drug-sniffing canines to parents for $200 an hour. It was started this year by Debra Stone, who says her five trained dogs can detect heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and ecstasy.
The dogs' noses are so sensitive that they can smell a marijuana seed from up to 15 feet away and marijuana residue on clothing from drugs smoked two nights before.
One of the selling points of this service? Avoiding the kind of confrontation that comes with a drug test.
We spend billions a year on this war. I live in the south but I was born just outside of Chicago. I have personally seen how meth and Crack have devastated communities. There are seriously evil people involved in the manufacture and traffic of Narcotics.
But that is what happens when something of high demand is made illegal.
I don't much care for guns, but I understand that they are always going to be around. I would rather they be sold legally so they can be registered. Otherwise the illegal firearm industry would skyrocket overnight. That is the choice we have as a society.
We have that same choice with drugs. Treat non-violent users as the sick addicts that they are. Legalize and control the industry, or let that industry become criminal and control us.
But we won't. Not so long as prison's make so much money. Ending the war on drugs is about as profitable as curing cancer. Sure it's the right thing to do that will save lives and billions, but it's not nearly as profitable as "treating the problem".
The Prison Industry is a billion dollar baby. It's the golden goose. And until we do something, it will continue to be a con-college, where inmate population grows and gets worse while corporations get more and more discount labor.
Parents, talk to your kids like adults about drugs. And please don't turn your house into a prison.