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5 Most Absurd Anti-Pot Propaganda Campaigns (AlterNet)
The hysterical scare tactics are beginning to backfire.January 13, 2015
Last year, Colorado launched the $2 million Don’t Be a Lab Rat campaign. Backed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, this anti-pot campaign was a modern-day Reefer Madness, with human-sized rat cages set up in public places to show the horrors of smoking marijuana. The idea was to relay to teenagers that Colorado was becoming a testing ground for the consequences of marijuana legalization and that they would be the test subjects if they smoked pot.
Needless to say, this multi-million-dollar propaganda campaign was a flop. Stoners used the installations as a place to light up. The 12-foot cages bore a striking resemble to prison cells. As Shawn Coleman, a lobbyist for the marijuana industry, put it: "One of the reasons the war on drugs is starting to end is because people are tired of black and brown people being thrown in jail for marijuana. These rat cages are the exact same size as a human prison cell.”
<snip>
But America has a long history of using hysterical scare tactics in its anti-drug campaigns. Back in the 1930s, newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst used yellow journalism to spread panic about marijuana, linking its use to violent crimes committed by African American reefer addicts.
Today's marijuana scare-tactics are riddled with misinformation—wild attempts to alarm the public even as states and cities across the country are loosening marijuana restrictions. Take my hand, dear reader, as we explore the most idiotic anti-pot ad campaign efforts in recent history.
Needless to say, this multi-million-dollar propaganda campaign was a flop. Stoners used the installations as a place to light up. The 12-foot cages bore a striking resemble to prison cells. As Shawn Coleman, a lobbyist for the marijuana industry, put it: "One of the reasons the war on drugs is starting to end is because people are tired of black and brown people being thrown in jail for marijuana. These rat cages are the exact same size as a human prison cell.”
<snip>
But America has a long history of using hysterical scare tactics in its anti-drug campaigns. Back in the 1930s, newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst used yellow journalism to spread panic about marijuana, linking its use to violent crimes committed by African American reefer addicts.
Today's marijuana scare-tactics are riddled with misinformation—wild attempts to alarm the public even as states and cities across the country are loosening marijuana restrictions. Take my hand, dear reader, as we explore the most idiotic anti-pot ad campaign efforts in recent history.
cont'd...
Link: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/5-most-absurd-anti-pot-propaganda-campaigns
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