This video was put out by The International Centre for Science in Drug Policy. Be sure to sign the Vienna Declaration.
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Great video, and I really liked the quote from Einstein, but I wish they included sources for their statistics; otherwise, it might look like they were made up. Not including sources seems really strange coming from a group advocating for science in drug policy.
There are other problems, too. The graph showing a causal link between drug enforcement spending and drug related violence looks good, except for the period after ~1996, when it clearly shows an inverse relationship. How is that explained?
The graph showing drug related incarcerations doesn’t include a legend for the different colors being used. Is that for the whole world or just the U.S.? What do the colors mean?
Lastly, I don’t like the open question at the end. Why not list some alternatives, or at least make the argument that we need a science-based drug policy?
I’m not trying to bash the video– on the whole I like it a lot– but I think some things could have been addressed better, especially from a group advocating more science in drug policy.
The music in the video tells me that its being directed at the wrong audience. Those older minds we need to change won’t sit and listen to it. The producers still in “preach it to the choir” mode.
Someone needs to pick some nondescript music from the ’50s as a background to some of this stuff. That’s missing in today’s media assault. I’ve asked several older types about this in the past and they’ve verified what I thought.
If you like that music, then you’re probably not a prohibitionist. Where music talks to us, to many older folks, it’s just “horrible noise.”
Unfortunately, I agree with ezrydn about the musical choice. If they had the rights, I would suggest something by Johnny Cash- he has both hipster cred and an older audience.
About the music in the video: if you’re going to show this to granddad and you think the music might turn him off, just cut the audio off. Simple as that :).
Hmmm… I get mailings from AARP, and I found the music to be just fine. In fact, I kind of liked how the urgency of it fit the data.
Pete,
Maybe the people at the AARP can’t hear the music very well. 🙂
We can get young people to agree with us pretty easily. The trick is maintaining that agreement as they grow older. The Boomer generation has shown they will happily criminalize behavior they engaged in during their own youth.
Cognitive dissonance is overrated. People are perfectly capable of holding two, three, or several opposing ideas in their heads at the same time.
“Adagio for Strings” would have been a better choice. When presenting this sort of “depressing” data, you don’t bolster it with up-tempo rap. If you’re showing it to someone, sure, turn the sound down. However, what about all those who view it when you’re not there?
My training in Behavioral Science says that all the strength of the data presented was shorted to ground via the music. Like I said, for us, it’s not a problem. If your grandmother votes, go play it for her and see if she makes a comment about the music.
We’re 5 months away from a very important vote and I don’t think that’s too much of a push to ask that the music fits the intended audience. It’s not just this video either. You see the same thing all over the place.
Put yourself in Grandpa Prohib’s position. Will HE get anything positive out of the music? Or, might it cause him to quit viewing the data presented? I’m only 65, raised on sounds of Woodstock and the music was distracting to me as I tried to read the data. And I don’t feel that old!
This was put out by the International Centre for Science in Public Policy. I don’t think that they were aiming it for the California vote.
There isn’t just one intended audience for drug policy reform messages. I think this music works just fine for a very large portion of the population, including a lot of old folks.
Music was fine,I just adjusted the volume down a couple of notches and it went well with a very well laid out video,tons of info and stats,something the drug czar still has not brought to light,as far as I know.
Are there any vibes on the next stage of the committee hearing on his budget?
Some 70’s porno music in the background would work just fine.
Loved that video. Granted, a video directed at those making the policy would need a different soundtrack and accompanying documentation for the facts, but this gives a great executive overview of the failures of the drug war. Cracks seem to be appearing in all the drug war offices these days, and hopefully I’ll live to see the day when they turn from the War on Drugs to Drug Abuse Recovery programs!
I LOVE this Video, props to the folks that created it!
And a note about the music – there are plenty of people that are/were “recently young” (easily young enough not to be turned off by the music), But who now have kids…
And may have since fallen prey to the – “what message does this send to our young people”, “what about the children?” – mindset.
This is the Demographic I think we need to win-over the most, Heck even Palin recently said police should re-prioritize their focus – to something other than people smoking pot – (I’m paraphrasing) and she did hedge her statement saying she wasn’t for legalization , because of (wait for it) the message that would send to our young people. But its WAY better than McCain’s or nearly every other Republican’s take on the issue – outside of Gary Johnson.
It was on the first episode (06/12/10) of the new Freedom Watch show on the FOX Business channel – hosted by Judge Napolitano.
FWIW – I like the Libertarian side of this guy and his show, the first was pretty good… the second episode bugged me – But I think that may have just been Napolitano trying to have an ‘impassioned show’, IMO “the jury is still out” on this guy and his show.
All the clips I’ve seen linked to in various places from when it was just on the net or whatever – were political issues/stances I’m concerned with and I liked most of what he said, so much that I had to wonder why FOX had this guy under their banner but I think it’s an attempt to appeal to the growing libertarian/tea party/anti-big government demographic.
But there are views presented that are appealingly Libertarian from “The Left” and “The Right” – again, IMO.
i wonder why people aren’t complaining about the current message being sent, which goes something like this: “fuck you people, we’re kicking in your doors and killing you so you don’t hurt yourself!”