Pubdate: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 Source: Western Herald (MI EDU) Copyright: 2003 The Western Herald Contact: http://www.westernherald.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2668 Author: Garrett West Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/campaign.htm (ONDCP Media Campaign) PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS FAIL TO REDUCE SUBSTANCE USE One thing I miss about being at home is I had so much more time to watch TV. Now here I am, finally becoming a man at college, and it seems like I am always busy, playing video games or eating sandwiches and whatnot. I just need a little me time you know? Mostly I miss the commercials -- Public Service Announcements (PSA) in particular. When it's broken down, there have been three distinctive eras of anti-drug public service announcements thus far. In the first era, brought about by the Reagan presidency, we were shown the lighter side of drug use. A personal favorite of mine, and a critical smash success, was the public service announcement that contained an evil teenager all hopped up on marijuana cigarettes offering an innocent young fellow a hit. Once the boy refused, the natural response by the murderous drug fiend was "What are you, a chicken?" The boy, displaying brilliant wit and a satirical taste, venomously responded, "If I am a chicken, you're a turkey." Bam! In your face, drug peddler! The commercial ended with everyone rightfully in their respective farm animal place, some of us chickens, some of us turkeys. We were left to decide for ourselves what we wanted to be. What they failed to show was the boy being repeatedly smashed into lockers. It didn't matter though, because we had all forgotten the commercial 30 seconds later when "Power Rangers" started. The second era was a time of exploring the art of minimalism in the PSA. The NBC television network sponsored a series of 30-second commercials which featured a popular celebrity set against a black back-drop, sitting on a lone stool, speaking from the heart to the youth of America about drug use. Emotions often ran high in these commercials. One of the more troubling spots, in the aptly titled "The More You Know," campaign, featured a Mr. David Schwimmer. I have to admit, I don't know if I really trust anyone from the cast of "Friends" to be the spokesman to our youth. I know "Friends" is doused in realistic portrayals of the hardships that a 20-something living in New York City might encounter, such as various miscommunications and finding themself in inopportune, misshapen situations (Oh, Phoebe!), but still, maybe they should first work on tackling that ever controversial issue of an actual black person or other minority living in New York City before they go right to drug use. It's probably about time "Central Perk" takes down that "white's only" sign. Having David Schwimmer give a PSA on drug use is like hiring Siegfried and Roy to be the spokesmen for Boy Scouts. And I mean, that is just ridiculous, we all know they are way too busy entertaining magic-starved Americans everywhere with their hit Las Vegas show to do that. To be honest, I am not actually sure how the two are related really, but I like the idea of little Boy Scouts everywhere working hard on getting their "super fabulous!" badge. Which brings us to now, the realism era, an artistic peak of the anti-drug PSA. These commonly feature shaky, in-your-face camera techniques and snippets of hit songs from modern, new-age, experimental groups like Matchbox Twenty. These new commercials are hip and edgy. But still, even with all this hip and edge and nearly two decades of, "Just Say No," PRIDE surveys, designated by Congress, reported teenage substance abuse, which has remained relatively neutral since the start of this massive campaign, has actually increased since last year. On an even larger scale, substance abuse among the general populace is still listed as a major concern among American citizens. This would mean Americans have been spending millions of dollars on an ineffective campaign. Money that could easily be spent on health care and education. On top of the millions of dollars spent on prevention, they spend even more on the court costs and jailing of the hundreds of thousands of drug related arrests each year. What are we doing wrong? As Americans, we place such an important value on individuality, yet we are constantly worrying about other people's personal lifestyles. I feel that if something isn't hurting anyone else, or directly affecting their own chances at happiness, then how can we force our own personal beliefs on it? Recently, the Supreme Court withheld this idea in its much debated ruling that legalized sodomy. I may feel like homosexual practices are unnatural and immoral, but I can easily demonstrate these beliefs by not sodomizing another male. If two consenting adults choose to have a sodomy fiesta in the comfort of their own home, more power to them. If they want to smoke pot, have sodomy and play monopoly all at once, they better be careful about passing go. I call banker! In all seriousness, if someone else's behaviors don't hurt my chances at happiness and success, it's none of my business. I can be me, and they can be them. In the end, we are all just trying to get by. Of course the difference is that, like alcohol, which is a legal substance, marijuana can affect other people by endangering them physically. Changes in perception and control that often occur while under the influence of marijuana can hurt others in a variety of ways, most specifically on the road. This is why the government should make the punishment for traveling under the influence of marijuana much more devastating and then decrease, or completely eliminate, the punishment for possession of marijuana. If we decided to decrease it, then instead of ridiculous, unnecessary and costly legal ramifications, we could offer people optional productive counseling, to ensure their habits have not overtaken their lives. Under no circumstances should jail be considered an option for a drug user who has not endangered others. We can trust this policy would not be abused because if you are caught potentially endangering another with your personal habits, then you will be punished to a much more extreme degree than ever before. We need to abandon this sinking ship and salvage everything we have left. With that, we'll build a new super ship. With this new ship we can finally find the golden treasure lost at Skull Cove. Or, we could realize the drug war is not working, because it never should have been a war in the first place. It's finally time we learn the difference of when there really is something to fight and when we are just blindly attacking each other. Scaring people into change will just not do this time. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk