I’m working on some things I want to discuss. In the meantime, have at it.
People keep noticing the over-the-top ads that Partnership puts out. This one is priceless
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AH!! THATS EXACTLY WHAT I DO TOO WHEN I FIND MY KIDS STEALING MY DRUGS!!!!
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Recently Australia saw the largest commercial cannabis grow bust in its history occurred. The cops estimate that the crop would have been worth hundreds of millions of (Australian) dollars. In and of itself not particularly noteworthy. But the growers motivation was rather surprising:
linky
/snip/
During her father’s sentencing, the court heard Gardner was still trafficking from inside jail, asking his daughter to sell a recent harvest for $280,000.
Her father told police he had no regrets about continuing the trafficking because he was trying to raise as much money as he could to fund an anti-abortion campaign he wanted to launch nation-wide.
Yeah, that Partnership ad is confusing. “Sometimes what you want to do isn’t what you should do.” But it’s not 100% clear to me why they have a problem with the dad’s reaction. Clearly, they’re not saying that violence is an inappropriate response to drug use. After all, they’re strong supporters of criminal prohibition. So maybe their problem is with the identity of the person acting violently. (“Hey Dad, you’re not a cop. Leave the violence to the professionals.”) Or maybe their problem is with the target of that violence, i.e. consumer electronics. (“You’re not supposed to attack the drug user’s stuff. You’re supposed to attack and cage the drug user and then steal their stuff via asset forfeiture.”) I’m guessing that it’s both of those, but like I said, it’s confusing.
My guess is the people making this ad basically said ‘screw it’, threw together this hilarious nonsense (perhaps being non-sober in the process), pocketed a lot of taxpayer money, and convinced the idiotic soberheads (i.e. people abusing sobriety) that this sends the right message to children.
Well, to be fair, it’s not targeted at the children. And it’s not targeted at you or I. It’s targeted at the middle brow, “in college, I was once in a room where someone smoked a joint” parents of young teens and adults. Likely middle class, mildly involved in a faith organization, white, suburbanite, with a kid who’s acting out or odd (IE. growing up).
I saw the one with a mother and daughter screaming at each other but instead of real words it’s a pastiche of what a usual mother/teenage daughter scream fest turns into. Daughter:[Generic hurtful words I will regret later.] Mother:[Unproductive accusation dredged up from the past.] etc etc It’s over the top on purpose to resonate with the frustrations, confusion, and anger of parents and to remind them how unproductive these confrontations can be.
The vids are part of a general “communication is important” message. The thing is, and I know some of you might disagree on this but the message in of itself isn’t bad. Get educated and talk to your kids. On the surface it’s a reasonable bit of advice.
Trust me, some parents do freak the fuck out if they find a joint in their kids room and reactions can be over the top and knee-jerk. Some are even violent and abusive but in those cases no silly PSA is going to fix long standing family dysfunction or anger and self control issues.
So while “Talk to your kids” is critically important the fact that that message is then used to channel parents into the “information clearinghouse” box canyon of the PDFA is downright crappy. The information and advice that the PDFA and other prohibitionist groups give out is often damaging, hysterical, political, hypocritical, or simply naive.
Have open communication with your kids and try to foster a relationship based on understanding and respect instead of anger and suspicion. This is a common sense message but in the hands of the PDFA it gets twisted by a warped and hypocritical political agendas. The message becomes a tactic. Communication becomes artificial and steered.
And kids see through that shit so fast that, in comparison, they make Mr. Watched-Too-Much-Office-Space’s reaction look like a slow boil.
You know it’s not that hard to make that PSA an appropriate metaphor for the desperation the prohibitionist parasites now feel despite the billions of $ spent on propaganda – with the knowledge that anyone can acquire with the electronic media in it’s present state of function. Just replace the tagline with:
‘With all the evidence freely available concerning the drug war, isn’t it time to be reasonable and admit this policy does more harm than good.’
Here’s a useful thought experiment: keep the “sometimes what you want to do…” tag line, but replace the video of a dad smashing his drug-using son’s TV with a video of a SWAT team smashing through a suspect’s door and then shooting his dog. I’m guessing they wouldn’t run THAT ad.
And one more thought, I think the ad might best be viewed as a disturbing case of projection. “If you discovered that your child were using drugs, wouldn’t that fill you with a blind rage and make you want to smash stuff with a baseball bat?” Uh… no, it would fill me with concern and make me want to talk to my child. Please don’t take this the wrong way, Partnership, but… have you been drinking again?
Too much free booze as a perk for acting as the corp-rat footmen of the alcohol industry…
Ryan Donaghy, Chairman of the Board Donaghy Sales, LLC Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
Ron Fowler, Immediate Past Chairman Liquid Investments, LLC Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
Tom Reyes, Vice Chairman Crest Beverage, LLC; Gate City Beverage Distributors-San Bernardino; Harbor Distributing, LLC-Anaheim, Gardena, Santa Ana Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
David “Duke†Reyes, Chief Financial Officer Crest Beverage, LLC; Gate City Beverage Distributors-San Bernardino; Harbor Distributing, LLC-Anaheim, Gardena, Santa Ana Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
Peter Heimark, Secretary Heimark Distributing Co. Triangle Distributing Co. Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
Terence Fox, NBWA CA Director M.E. Fox and Co. Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
Travis Markstein, NBWA CA Director Markstein Beverage Co. Sacramento; Markstein Beverage Co. San Marcos Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
Cherisse Alford, CBBD PAC Chair Alford Distributing, Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
Jeff Jordano, Management Committee Member Pacific Beverage Co. Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
T.J. Louderback, Management Committee Member Anheuser-Busch In Bev Sales Inc. of Pomona and Antelope Valley, Alcoholic beverage distributer, steadily funds anti-marijuana efforts
etc. etc. etc.
http://1anonymouslegion.com/narcowarriors/
Appropriate the message and reroute the pipes? http://www.drugwarrant.com/2011/02/i-am-above/
House elves routinely print out whole sheets of those. Add links to real, sensible, progressive resources on drugs and the drug war. Slap them up onto vertical and the occasionally horizontal surfaces. Naughty elves.
Granted, it’s a little more involved to co-opt a video but there’s other media involved in the campaign.
Seems to me like a plea to parents not to look inside the black box, behind the curtain, whatever.
“We know drugs make you mad as hell. You don’t have to take it, though, we can help…just call one of our affiliated treatment centers…”
Trolling for fascists with children as chum. Great.
Gill got caught lying again…and had his ears pinned back in an editorial.
Response to Drug Free America Foundation Recent Claims
This is a good one. From the article:
“Drug Free America Foundation was founded by and currently led by Betty Sembler, who is also a board member of DARE Florida (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) a widely known failed program. Mrs. Sembler was also one of ten founding members of Straight, Inc., along with her husband Melvin Sembler, a prominent fundraiser for Republican politicians, and several Florida State Senators. Straight, Inc was sued several times for abusive practices. The plaintiffs were awarded several hundreds of thousands of dollars, and one as much as $721,000 in damages due to mistreatment by Straight, Inc. There are several websites, videos and a documentary dedicated to surviving the abuses of Straight, Inc. “
and
“The ONDCP is required by law to oppose all efforts to legalize cannabis in any form thereby giving Gil Kerlikowske an excuse for his misleading statements. Partnership for Drug Free America is merely a lobby group for the pharmaceutical companies if they really wanted a drug free America they would outlaw chemical pharmaceuticals. If the Drug Free America Foundation wants to be considered a voice and relevant they would do better by sticking to the truth.
Ms Beck calling medicinal use of cannabis a ruse displays her lack of knowledge regarding cannabis, which has been used medicinally for over 2500 years. Cannabis has been studied more than any other substance known to man, and has been proven a safe effective medicine for a large number of ailments. Cannabis has been proven to kill cancer at the cellular level. Surely the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing cancer medications would prefer it not be available for use, they would rather Americans use their more toxic therapies. The profit of the pharmaceutical companies is more of their concern than the health of the citizens. After all the worse the health of the citizens, the more of their products are sold. Cannabis is effective for a majority of ailments that the sponsors of Drug Free America Foundation manufacture chemical pharmaceuticals for.”
Unlike so many ‘accredited journalists’, the author clearly did his(?) homework…
I like that article because it makes the connection between DFAF and Straight Inc. and the Semblers. Straight didn’t just have “abusive practices” though. Their whole “program” was abuse.
Which one was the druggie? The father or the boy? Me thinks it’s the father, by his actions.
You nailed it. And unfortunately his drug of choice is booze. Last week his wife suggested (very gently, mind you) that it MIGHT be a good idea for him to cut back on his drinking. Let’s just say that he owes her a new iPad 2.
I can’t get the video to load.
Here’s one at Alternet linking the ATF’s “Fast & Furious” to Holder’s MMJ Crackdown. Seems a plausible (if incomplete)explanation.
http://tinyurl.com/8vq68rv
I don’t get the connection? I can’t believe this administration is worried about local law enforcement.
To be honest I can’t figure out what this administration is trying to accomplish with there medical MJ enforcenment. The only out-come I can see is losing states like Colorado in the election due to losing votes to Gary Johnson (although more votes for Gov. Johnson is a good thing.)
stlgonzo, I believe that this administration wants to crush mmj to appease and lay the groundwork for a campaign contributor. GW Pharma/Novartis (cough cough Sativex). The old adage “follow the $$$” hard at work.
Now that I can buy. The article linked above talked about getting back in the good graces of local law enforcement.
See my comment on the Alternet thread.
Finally got around to reading it. Well stated.
Chris Roberts at SF Weekly points out that the crackdown began before F&F became an issue.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/08/eric_holder_fast_and_furious_medical_marijuana.php
Smoking gun still needed.
Read my comment that I left up at the Alternet. I never bought that, I’m jus’ passin’ it along.
The Partnership® at Drugfree.org have produced either a parody or a sequel to their infamous ‘this is your brain on drugs…â€, starring a scrambled egg and some non-sequitur histrionics.
With their new ad, The Partnership® has sent the same message to the children. The message is that prohibitionists are crazy, violent people who promote an authoritarian agenda resulting in the persecution of innocents, and who rightly deserve to be defunded as quickly as possible.
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I’ve always thought that Denny’s was the evil mastermind behind that infamous fried egg “public service” announcement. It wasn’t long before I lost count of how many times I’d be sitting in front of the TV minding my own business, stoned to the bejeebus and then find myself scarfing down a Grand Slam breakfast special after they played that ad.
Mmmm…fried eggs!
Finally got it to load.
WTF??? That’s what they’ve got? It’s not a parody??
Sure leaves one confused as to what (if any) message is in there.
Did they use taxpayer money for that?
Is the message do drugs and your dad will smash all your shit? Do I have to get mad at myself and take my TV outside and club it with a bat?
They’ve clearly been watching those videos of parents pissed about their kids’ promiscuous social networking.
Like the one where the dad blows away the girl’s laptop while talking calmly, Ã la Dirty Harry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1ujzRidmU
and now I KNOW I’m gonna smoke a bowl w/ my son when he gets home…
Oh-oh:
Not sure whether the prohibs will ‘get’ that this is satire. The stupid ones won’t, the other three will.
Of interest?
http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/6-15-2012-Report-FDAs-Contribution-to-the-Drug-Shortage-Crisis.pdf
Sounds like a power hungry bureaucrat at the FDA is following ONDCP applications of control on the manufacturing and it is causing the shortage,and Kerli wants to cut production of even more types of drugs,,creating more shortages and a stronger black market.,,,what a world.
I attended the 20th anniversary bash for The Partnership back in 2006, held at the Waldorf Astoria in NY. What a hoot. Most everyone at my table was a “former” drug addict, but several admitted to still taking prescription anti-depressants and painkillers. Also, there was an open bar beforehand – and wine was served at dinner. I played along for a bit before telling them I was in favor of repealing drug prohibition. It was easy pickins, for sure, but fun nonetheless. Talk about deer in the headlights… Best $1000 I spent that year.
Ha! Nice one. I would have enjoyed that.
Actually, my experience bears that out. In my experience, pot using BPD patients require fewer hospitalizations, and fare better when they (inevitably) go off their Rx meds.
Not sure if you saw this one or not, but I figured it would make you smile. Jury openly refuses to convict on a possession charge:
http://reason.com/blog/2012/08/14/kansas-prosecutor-defeated-by-glaring-st