In 1987, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America aired a public service announcement that went on to become a classic of modern pop culture. It likened an egg to "your brain" and a hot pan to "drugs." The egg was then fried in the pan, and the viewer was informed that "this is your brain on drugs." The ad concluded: "Any questions?" Presumably this was meant to be rhetorical, but now the ad is back in a revamped form, which includes children asking questions about drugs. "Mom, Dad, did you ever try drugs?" asks one child. [continues 687 words]
For a generation of commercial-watching adolescents, it was an indelible image: an egg, sizzling in a frying pan, representing "your brain on drugs." It was a straightforward message, and the ad's final line - "Any questions?" - asked as the egg white clouded and cooked, was strictly rhetorical. Three decades later, the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids (the group formerly known as the Partnership for a Drug-Free America) is bringing the frying pan out of retirement and firing up the stove again. But this time questions are the point. [continues 758 words]
Pity the Lonely Anti-Weed Crusaders, Whose Clout Has Gone Up in Smoke As pro-marijuana forces deployed their sidewalk soldiers to gather signatures to put pot legalization on the District's November ballot, Aaron McCormick, a 47-year-old city native and father of three, watched with growing alarm. Somebody must stop this scourge, he decided. But how? McCormick says he knew of no group fighting the initiative, heard no opposition to it in his church and got no traction for his anti-weed views on his vibrant Twitter account, @blackmanhelping, where he opines on local affairs. McCormick, a construction project manager, considered challenging the ballot initiative himself, but he ultimately realized the futility of fighting an army of marijuana advocates. [continues 1402 words]
If the Obama administration is to be believed, America's infamous "War on Drugs" is over. In its most recent National Drug Control Strategy, released last week, officials promised a more humane and sympathetic approach to drug users and addiction. Out, the report suggests, are "tough on crime" policies. Rather than more police and more prisons, officials talk about public health and education. They promise to use evidence-based practices to combat drug abuse. And they want to use compassionate messaging and successful reentry programs to reduce the stigma drug offenders and addicts face. [continues 695 words]
War has been declared on the "war on drugs." Not by violent cartels, but by economists, public health workers, human rights advocates and others who believe that punitive, blanket prohibition is not only failing but has done enormous harm. Thousands took to the streets of more than 100 cities across the globe June 26, "reclaiming" the United Nations' International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking by protesting the fallout of the drug war, from health crises to mass incarceration. [continues 780 words]
Opponents of marijuana-law reform insist that legalization is dangerous-but the biggest threat is to their own bottom line. Patrick Kennedy, son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, did several stints in rehab after crashing his car into a barricade on Capitol Hill in 2006, a headline-making event that revealed the then-US congressman for Rhode Island had been abusing prescription drugs, including the painkiller OxyContin. Kennedy went on to make mental health-including substance abuse-a cornerstone of his political agenda, and he is reportedly at work on a memoir about his struggles with addiction and mental illness. In 2013, he also helped found an advocacy group, Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), which has barnstormed the country opposing the growing state and federal efforts to legalize pot. [continues 4143 words]
Joining the effort to try to head off a planned 2016 initiative to legalize marijuana in Arizona, the Yavapai County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Monday opposing the legalization of marijuana. The county is the second local government to sign on to the resolution, after the Prescott Valley Town Council. By getting signatures of governments throughout the state, the local MatForce coalition against drug abuse seeks to send a message that the initiative petition drive isn't welcome here. [continues 541 words]
The Drug-Free Zone Shrinks to the Family Hearth Aging hippies have waited a lifetime to achieve their reefer dreams. Several states are relaxing marijuana laws, and the White House is right behind. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Monday announced the first retreat in the War on Drugs since President Nixon declared the war four decades ago. "Our system is in too many ways broken," said Mr. Holder, who proposed to "break free from the status quo," and endorsed legislation by Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah to give judges more room to minimize penalties for minor drug crimes. The idea is to stop flooding federal penitentiaries with nonviolent offenders. Mr. Holder said the administration wants the federal government to quit meddling in everything. "Some issues are best handled at the state and local level," he said. That much is unexpected good news. [continues 419 words]
The war on drugs is an archaic waste of time and money, and a recent poll conducted by Angus Reid suggests that 68 per cent of Canadians feel this way. There was a time when our neighbours to the south held a much more conservative view on this subject, but the same Angus Reid poll revealed that 66 per cent of Americans also believe that the war on drugs has been a dismal failure, and that 57 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of Americans feel that marijuana should be legalized and readily available for sale on the open market. [continues 800 words]
Mary Jane. Weed. Pot. Reefer. All are nicknames for marijuana. Some people are against the drug's use, yet 17 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Other states have decriminalized marijuana by allowing people to have small amounts on their private property, according to the Associated Press. Some say marijuana is harmless. Others say it's not a drug because it's natural. So how do kids see it? Stephen Pasierb, president of the Partnership at Drugfree.org, said marijuana's legalization and medical use has "created a perception among kids that this is no big deal." [continues 736 words]
The stories are real. The experiences are harrowing. And the messages appear to be effective. A year after its $4 million advertising campaign rolled out, The Georgia Meth Project will release this week a survey that found 52 percent of teenagers believe there is "great risk" in taking methamphetamine just once or twice. That's an 11 point gain over the benchmark survey conducted last year, before the messaging campaign hit the airwaves. More young people also believe that using meth will negatively influence a younger sibling and increase the risks of losing control, suffering brain damage and stealing, the survey said. [continues 910 words]
Our Neighbor's Twisted Logic When It Comes to Kids And Marijuana. The top federal prosecutor in Oregon and 33 of the state's district attorneys announced last week that they are going to put an end to prescription pot sales. The authorities say that although Oregon currently has nearly 40,000 people enrolled in its voter-approved medical-marijuana program, law enforcement must take action because the system violates federal law and is "putting marijuana in the hands of more and more healthy kids." But is that really true? [continues 674 words]
It was a Tuesday in March when college student Gwendolyn Farrell texted her parents and older sister to let them know she had gotten a 90 on her math test. The grade was significant, her mother, Christina Farrell, said, because math had always been her most difficult subject. "That represented to me that she was feeling good, feeling proud," said Farrell, of Yorktown. "She wasn't going down the road to destruction." [continues 1672 words]
Regarding the Dec. 16 letter "Teachable drug moments": Shelley Mowrey of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America wants us to be shocked at the video of Miley Cyrus smoking salvia divinorum. Mowrey calls it a "teachable moment," which we parents should use to "initiate a conversation" with our children about "drugs and alcohol." Mowrey wants us to believe that her organization is privy to the "single most effective way to raise healthy, drug-free children," and, at the same time, tells us that the average age for first drug use in Arizona is 13, which is pretty much the same as it was 40 years ago when this insane "war on drugs" started. [continues 73 words]
Regarding the Dec. 16 letter "Teachable drug moments": Shelley Mowrey of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America wants us to be shocked at the video of Miley Cyrus smoking salvia divinorum. Mowrey calls it a "teachable moment," which we parents should use to "initiate a conversation" with our children about "drugs and alcohol." Mowrey wants us to believe that her organization is privy to the "single most effective way to raise healthy, drug-free children," and, at the same time, tells us that the average age for first drug use in Arizona is 13, which is pretty much the same as it was 40 years ago when this insane "war on drugs" started. [continues 57 words]
Dear Editor: Video recently leaked onto the Internet of Miley Cyrus smoking salvia, a herb that can produce hallucinogenic effects when smoked or ingested. Since then, there have been reports of increases in salvia sales at some California smoke shops. As parents, we need to examine how incidents like this affect our kids. It begs the question: What type of influence do celebrities have on kids and teens with regard to important issues such as substance use and abuse? This is the perfect example of a teachable moment - a way for parents to get educated and initiate a conversation with their kids and teens about drug and alcohol use. [continues 61 words]
Will this be the year a medical marijuana bill passes the Maryland General Assembly? Sen. David Brinkley, R-District 4, said that if re-elected, he plans to introduce a bill similar to the one that passed the Senate during the last session that would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. A version of the bill failed in the House of Delegates. Brinkley said the bill, which would license producers, distributors and users, would address the important issue of providing a reliable source for the product as an alternative to buying it on the black market. [continues 557 words]
If Proposition 203 passes in Arizona, employers can say goodbye to the drug-free work place, and hello to employment for life. Prop. 203 is called medical marijuana, but it's really legalization. In other states with this law, anyone can get a marijuana card and smoke pot legally. According to records seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration from 3,636 dispensaries in San Diego from October 2005 to July 2006, only 2 percent of cardholders had serious illnesses like AIDS, cancer or glaucoma. The other 98 percent cited illnesses such as insomnia, muscle spasms, anxiety, headaches or back/neck/post-surgical pain. Overall, 72 percent of those users were under the age 40. [continues 467 words]
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to The Arizona Republic for reporting the truth about Proposition 203 and urging a "no" vote ("Just say 'No' to medical pot," Editorial, Sunday). The so-called medical marijuana initiative is really about drug legalization and makes marijuana readily available to everyone, including our children. Its passage would have a devastating impact on the health and safety of Arizonans. I urge all Arizonans to vote "no" on Prop. 203. It's bad for our families, communities and businesses. Jerry Colangelo, Phoenix The writer is co-founder of the Arizona affiliate of Partnership for a Drug-Free America. [end]
"In almost every respect imaginable, Prohibition was a failure," former New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent concluded at the close of his new book, "Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." "It encouraged criminality and institutionalized hypocrisy. It deprived the government of revenue, stripped the gears of the political system, and proposed profound limitations on individual rights." America's laws against marijuana have had similar effect. About 40 percent of Americans have tried the weed. In March, the Partnership for a Drug Free America reported that 38 percent of ninth-through 12th-graders studied in 2009 reported consuming marijuana in the past month. [continues 746 words]
