Lit_Match

Can we please rethink our anti-drug commercials?
12-23-07|The Palestine Herald|By ROBERT RICH

Have you ever seen that Above The Influence commercial where a young Hispanic girl is talking on the phone to her friend? Basically, she comes out of her house and says the following: “Hey girl, que pasa? Last night was crazy, from what I can remember. Hold on, slow down chica. A picture of me? You have to send it to me right now.” At this point she takes the phone away from her ear and looks at what we’re supposed to assume is a revealing or embarrassing picture of her. She puts the phone back up to her ear and says, “This must be from Saturday night. I was so high.” Kids gathered around her look at their cell phones and at the girl, while a presumably cool dude in a white tank top stares at her like he’s disappointed.

What about the one where another girl is milling about in her kitchen. Her dog jumps up on the counter and begins speaking to her. “Hey (insert girl’s name here), I really wish you wouldn’t smoke pot. You’re not the same when you smoke, and I miss my friend. I’ll be outside.” The dog jumps down and runs to the door while the bewildered girl just stares into space.

Then there’s the one where we see a boy pushing a full-length mirror through his neighborhood, eventually to his school, down the hallway, and into the lunchroom where he wheels it until it’s directly in front of one of his friends. The voiceover then says, “Sometimes your friends can’t see what drugs do to them.” The friend looks up and sees himself in the mirror and just like that a revelation has come upon him. He looks upset and embarrassed, and we all know that he’s going to change his ways very soon.

Are you laughing yet? You should be.

Not at the message of these commercials or what they’re trying to accomplish, that’s not humorous, but at the way they’re done. The war on drugs, in particular the war to keep kids from using marijuana, has been a very difficult struggle, and all kinds of advertisements have been dreamt up and plastered on our television screens. But has it worked? I doubt it. In fact, it’s probably encouraged kids to start smoking pot because they don’t want to be like the ridiculous kids on the screen. Okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but let’s take a look at those commercials.

First, the Hispanic girl. I don’t think we need to go into how that ad is inherently a little racially wrong. I mean, just because she’s Hispanic doesn’t mean she’ll be saying ‘que pasa’ and ‘chica’. Give me a break. Secondly, I don’t know why, but when she says her “This must be from Saturday night. I was so high” line, I just want to start laughing. It’s so ridiculous and I’ll bet quite a bit of money that’s it not deterring any kids from smoking pot. Next up, the dog commercial. That one’s just weird, and I’m not really sure what to think of it. Lastly, the mirror. Another ridiculous situation made even more ridiculous by the friend’s reaction when he looks up and sees himself in the mirror. I mean, since the one kid went to such drastic measures as pushing a mirror into school, we’re assuming that just talking about the friend’s problem hasn’t worked, which makes it absurd that by looking into a mirror, all of a sudden he sees the errors of his ways and decides to change them. Please.

I feel I need to emphasize that I’m not advocating marijuana usage before I get an angry e-mail telling me that pot is a true musician and writes its own lyrics (man, I just can’t let that one go). However, what I am saying is that the way we’re going about it now isn’t doing a bit of good. You want to stop kids from using pot? Stop their access to it. Don’t make stupid commercials telling them it’s wrong, go after the dealers and make it harder for them to get their hands on the drug. Marijuana isn’t addicting, and I bet that if it becomes a hassle for them to get the drug, then eventually they just won’t worry about it because they’ll realize it isn’t worth it. If you want to fix a problem, go after the cause, not the effect.

I do want to make special mention of one commercial that I do feel is effective. In this particular ad, a young boy talks about smoking pot at his friend’s house and then says “And you know what happened? Nothing. We just sat on the couch for five hours.” Now, that’s a good ad. It doesn’t go the whole “Drugs are super duper bad don’t do them” route and just says look, if you use it, it more than likely won’t kill you, but it’s not going to be anything special for you either, so why do it. Ads like this, coupled with cracking down on dealers, is what needs to happen.

I hope everyone has a safe and fantastic Christmas. Take care.

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Donation links to NORML (The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) | MPP (Marijuana Policy Project)

disheartenedwamerica

I agree. Those commercials are flat out rediculous. I'm not sure if they are more amusing or insulting, but thats beside the point. It's obvious that the war on drugs does not work. As you say we need to crack down on the dealers, but when we crack down on dealers it's usually just the street level and low level ones. We never usually get the top dealers. So with a trade that has rediculous profit margins, with a huge and ready supply, its not hard to replace the low level dealers. So the low level dealers are persecuted and the real problem is left untouched. If we want to solve the "drug problem", which is a health problem, not a criminal one, then we need to end prohibition and remove a gross market from criminals and regulate it through the government. Once the huge profits and easy cash are out of the business, criminals will need to move on to something that is worth more money to them. I have heard estimates that an ounce of government regulated marijuana with taxes is around $15. Normally for the best in my area an ounce is almost $400. If you can go to a convience store and pick it up just like you would get a pack of cigerettes or a six pack of beer, then who would go out to a street dealer and pay a 35x mark-up on what they could get at a store. Then with the revenues gained from those taxes we need to create more cheap, effective treatment programs. Only then can we really solve "the drug problem"

Buzzby

My dog likes me better when I'm high. I'm much more willing to be silly and I seem to pick up better on his communication skills.

The author of this article needs to stop being so literal. This was obviously not trying to portray a real-world situation. It's symbolic.

As long as the marijuana trade is so incredibly profitable, there is no way to stop the trafficking. Basic economics dictates that where there is a demand and there is so much money to be made, someone will jump in to provide a supply and make their fortune.

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carlover_36

There is only one true, and simple, way to stop teen-agers from having access to Marijuana, to stop all the smuggling, to stop people from selling Marijuana on our Streets and Alley Ways. The "Powers That Be" know this answer.
Remove the Prohibition Laws and regulate it's Sale, Not it's Use. Pure, Plain, and Simple!

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