posted
Some of you mentioned the commercial where the kids are sitting on "Pete's couch" and the narrator gets up to go live life or whatever. It is not a good anti-drug ad.
Basically what it's saying is, "Marijuana is harmless, but you still can't have it." Besides, you'd have to be baked beyond belief to sit on a couch for 11 hours. All I really learned from this ad is that Pete's shit is the bomb.
Posts: 86 | From: Georgia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by keokuk: The other problem is that when they paint a broad brush with all drugs, then it somewhat diminishes the fear of higher drugs. When people tell you that marijuana will do all these horrible things to you, and you find it not to be true, that makes you less likely to trust future messages about other drugs that might actually be as harmful as advertised.
Didn't the Baby Boomers discover that in the 60's? So why are these same folks giving us the same types of scare tactics that didn't work on their generation?
The DARE programs we had in school were laughable. I remember there was always the litle skit we had to act out where someone played "the pusher" (who always wore a leather jacket) and the script read:
Pusher: Hey, kid, you wanna buy some marijuana? Kid: No. Pusher: Come on. You wanna be cool, don't you? Kid: No. I don't do drugs. Pusher: Come on, do it! Everybody does it! Kid: No. Drugs will ruin my future. Pusher: Try some pot. It's good. Kid: No. You're trying to get me hooked on drugs. I'm telling an adult.
Even in 6th grade our reactions were:
I have never experienced the "you want to be cool, don't you?" type of peer pressure and insistence that the DARE officers swore we'd encounter. Nor do I know anyone who has. When offered drugs, my polite refusal has always been cooly accepted. Only once did someone become paranoid that I was a narc because I didn't want a toke. His friends assured him I was cool.
The outdated tactics of anti-drug ads just make them laughably ineffective. And I think many of us here have recalled that, ironically, DARE was our first introduction to drugs that we'd never have otherwise encountered in our neighborhoods. Hell, they taught us how to recognize and identify different types of powders. They taught us all the slang terms (although many of them were outdated) which automatically made us cool, because we could sound like we had experience. They taught us how various drugs were ingested (in case we ever decided to try them ourselves, we now knew the proper way.) And they taught us about the variety of household chemicals that could get us high. It was through DARE that I learned sniffing glue, paint, markers, and White-Out could NFBSK you up. So in middle school we'd steal the markers from art class and sniff them, trying to discover the elusive magic that we were warned about.
Maybe it was just the DARE program in my school district that had the opposite effect of what they intended. I certainly learned about drugs much earlier than I would have otherwise, but throughout my teen years none of us had access to anything stronger than pot or the occassional blotter acid.
-------------------- "There is no constitutional right to sleep with endangered reptiles." -- Carl Hiaasen Won't somebody please think of the adults! Posts: 8254 | From: Florida | Registered: Oct 2002
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The only thing I remember learning from DARE was what the term "tagging" meant. They also include gangs, shoplifting, and vandalism in the DARE curriculum.
Worse was GREAT- Gang Resistance Eduaction and Training. I thought it was laughable because to my knowledge, our tiny town didn't even HAVE a serious gang problem.
Posts: 885 | From: Florida | Registered: May 2004
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quote:Originally posted by moonfall86: My experiences with being offered drugs and alcohol were never like the ones on TV.
Friend: *drinking or smoking* You want some? Me: No, I don't like it/I'm allergic. Friend: Ok.
Most people I've met are pretty understanding that I hate beer and have allergies that make smoking a bad idea.
That's about how it works around me:
FRIEND: Hey, Wren, mind if Jenny and I smoke some Nikes*? ME: Just open a window. FRIEND: Want some? ME: No thanks.
*"Smoke some Nikes" is our personal code phrase, derived from some weed she got hold of that smelled -- at least to me -- like someone had stuffed an old pair of running shoes with oregano and lit them on fire.
-------------------- “Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.” -- Edward R. Murrow
quote:Originally posted by Rhiandmoi: The meth case is a real thing, them being high did contribute to them dying.
You see, that would just tell me "Don't get intoxicated and then go out in a blizzard" - just like the countless stories we get around here (especially at this time of year) of drunk club goers trying to walk home in a miniskirt across mooreland at 2am and being found frozen solid in the morning wouldn't stop me for going for a pint later that day.
Posts: 1710 | From: Newcastle, UK | Registered: Aug 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Rhiandmoi: The meth case is a real thing, them being high did contribute to them dying.
You see, that would just tell me "Don't get intoxicated and then go out in a blizzard" - just like the countless stories we get around here (especially at this time of year) of drunk club goers trying to walk home in a miniskirt across mooreland at 2am and being found frozen solid in the morning wouldn't stop me for going for a pint later that day.
I don't understand this mentality. Hearing someone's intoxicant of choice affected their judgement so severely they froze to death outside wouldn't give you a moment's pause? The people who get themselves in trouble all thought they'd be fine too.
I have made a few dumb decisions while drunk, like the time I got into a car with someone I'm now sure was not at all sober. All the warnings like "get a designated driver," "watch your drink so no one can slip something in," even "watch out for your friends" flies out the window once you've had a few too many. Everyone should be aware that when they choose to get intoxicated, they are choosing to take a risk. There are things that can mitigate that risk, but it's still there.
Ultimately, it's your life and your choice, but acting as though drugs and other intoxicants are harmless is just as foolish as inflating the dangers.
-------------------- This used to be the life, but I don't need another one. MyBandwagon Posts: 3254 | From: small town Texas | Registered: Jan 2004
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quote:Originally posted by moonfall86: Worse was GREAT- Gang Resistance Eduaction and Training. I thought it was laughable because to my knowledge, our tiny town didn't even HAVE a serious gang problem.
That's because the GREAT program worked so well, duh!
-------------------- Conforming meant that everyone liked you except yourself Rebecca Posts: 682 | From: Jacksonville, FL | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Astra: I don't have a real problem with meth being classified as being "pure evil" because in the form you see on the streets, it has absolutely no positive value whatsoever. There's no medical use, it's incredibly addictive, and using it causes a multitude of nasty problems. Even drugs like cocaine and heroin do have a handful of medical uses, but meth is just an ugly way to wreck yourself.
My point was that for someone who is trying meth for the first time, it's not going to be pure evil. It's going to be fun. Classifying it as pure evil will have the same effect as anti-pot ads that make pot seem as dangerous as heroin. When someone finds that it does have positive effects (the fun and pleasure) they will think they are not subject to the negative effects. I agree that meth is extremely dangerous and can easily ruin one's life, but to say that there's nothing good about it at all is to ignore the fact that obviously some people find something good in it or no one would ever do it. Therefore in my opinion it's a lot better to admit that it has its allure, but explain the very negative and dangerous side effects.
I'm not trying to defend meth here, I'm trying to make it less of a monster and more something we can all understand. If it's just this pure evil tool of the devil then it has power, whereas if it's something that's fun but extremely dangerous then it's an option to be weighed and rejected. That's just how I see it, of course one's mileage may vary.
-------------------- Officially Heartless Posts: 3065 | From: The Montgomery County of the West Coast- Berkeley, CA | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Ah, ok, I see where you're coming from now. Yeah, villianizing anything to that extent in ads isn't going to be effective - it's just that in reality, there really aren't many positives to that crap.
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-------------------- Officially Heartless Posts: 3065 | From: The Montgomery County of the West Coast- Berkeley, CA | Registered: Nov 2005
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I'd like to point out one thing that has changed, and I think for the better, since I first became aware of the "drug menace" back in the 60s. If the story about the kids caught in a blizzard had happened back then, and been reported in my local paper, there would have been no mention of crystal meth. The story would have simply used the word "drugs". Neither the police, nor the reporter, nor the newspaper editor would have seen any reason to specify which drug was involved, it would have been sufficient to simply mention drugs as the obvious culprit. This was, in my experience, typical for those times.
And, again in my experience, it was counterproductive. When my peers and I began experimenting with weed, and found it to be pleasant and not at all likely to induce psychotic behavior or colossal lapses of judgement, there wasn't much of a reason to take seriously any of the other warnings we'd been given about [insert Halloween-type scary voice] "drugs".
I remember a book called "A Child's Garden of Grass", by Jack Margolis and Richard Clorfene, that was popular for a while. It contained a chapter called "The Dangers of Marijuana". The chapter read, in its entirety, "The dangers of marijuana are: 1) Getting busted". We all thought it was hilarious, because it was so true.
Transparently bogus propaganda is worse than useless. It generally destroys whatever true message may lurk underneath the BS.
Dog (Over 90% of all alcoholics started out on milk. Milk is a gateway drug!) Friendly
-------------------- "Nobody ever got stoned and beat up his old lady" -- Spence, snapdragonfly's friend Posts: 768 | From: North Hollywood, CA | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Rhiandmoi: The meth case is a real thing, them being high did contribute to them dying.
You see, that would just tell me "Don't get intoxicated and then go out in a blizzard" - just like the countless stories we get around here (especially at this time of year) of drunk club goers trying to walk home in a miniskirt across mooreland at 2am and being found frozen solid in the morning wouldn't stop me for going for a pint later that day.
I don't understand this mentality. Hearing someone's intoxicant of choice affected their judgement so severely they froze to death outside wouldn't give you a moment's pause? The people who get themselves in trouble all thought they'd be fine too.
I have made a few dumb decisions while drunk, like the time I got into a car with someone I'm now sure was not at all sober. All the warnings like "get a designated driver," "watch your drink so no one can slip something in," even "watch out for your friends" flies out the window once you've had a few too many. Everyone should be aware that when they choose to get intoxicated, they are choosing to take a risk. There are things that can mitigate that risk, but it's still there.
Ultimately, it's your life and your choice, but acting as though drugs and other intoxicants are harmless is just as foolish as inflating the dangers.
I'm not saying they're harmless at all, I'm saying that, as a way of stopping people taking xxxx it's not the best way of getting the message across - Have you stopped drinking since making a dumb decision when drunk?
Do the stories of people freezing to death when drunk stop you drinking? I presumed from the tone that these adverts were "anti-drug" rather than "be careful when you get pissed or do crystal meth".
Posts: 1710 | From: Newcastle, UK | Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Remember the Very Special Episodes in 80's sitcoms? My personal favortie as far as camp goes is Saved By The Bell. Jesse gets hooked on No-Doz and has this break down. funniest thing I ever saw.
"I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...so scared!"
-------------------- It's like they took a bunch of movies, put them in a blender and turned it on really fast!-Mystery Science Theater 3000 Posts: 2603 | From: Magna, Utah | Registered: Aug 2004
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Saved by the Bell actually had a couple of (anti-drug) Very Special Episodes. I remember a two-parter where a hot TV or movie star was coming to Bayside to film an anti-drug commercial with the Gang. The kids all think he's the coolest, so when he invites them to a party, of course they all go. The star turns out to be a phony, and Zack saves Lisa from trying weed in the nick of time. The star is roundly denounced, and the kids end up shooting the commercial with the president of NBC instead (he's boring and unsexy, but at least he doesn't do dope!). Not as entertaining as the Jessie-the-caffeine-addict one, though.
-------------------- I can't put my arms down! Posts: 273 | From: California | Registered: Feb 2006
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Canuckistan
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posted
quote:Originally posted by VersesBatman: Remember the Very Special Episodes in 80's sitcoms? My personal favortie as far as camp goes is Saved By The Bell. Jesse gets hooked on No-Doz and has this break down. funniest thing I ever saw.
"I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...so scared!"
Yeah, kinda wanted to get hooked on caffeine pills after that myself. Jessie was having fun there!
-------------------- People need to stop appropriating Jesus as their reason for behaving badly. It's so irritating. (Avril) Posts: 8429 | From: New York run by the Swiss (Toronto) | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by landmammal: Saved by the Bell actually had a couple of (anti-drug) Very Special Episodes. I remember a two-parter where a hot TV or movie star was coming to Bayside to film an anti-drug commercial with the Gang. The kids all think he's the coolest, so when he invites them to a party, of course they all go. The star turns out to be a phony, and Zack saves Lisa from trying weed in the nick of time. The star is roundly denounced, and the kids end up shooting the commercial with the president of NBC instead (he's boring and unsexy, but at least he doesn't do dope!). Not as entertaining as the Jessie-the-caffeine-addict one, though.
I remember that. But I think it was Kelly who gets offered the pot.
-------------------- It's like they took a bunch of movies, put them in a blender and turned it on really fast!-Mystery Science Theater 3000 Posts: 2603 | From: Magna, Utah | Registered: Aug 2004
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Or the "Zack has a sip of beer and crashes his dad's car" one. Or, oooh! The "College Years" one where they guys ask Screech to get them the nitrous. These are ALL classics. I hafta to give my top vote to the "drunk driving" episode of "Growing Pains". Matthew Perry drives drunk not once, but TWICE, and dies the second time!
-------------------- "Hilariously, he pronounces "Sauron" as "Sore-on", which sounds like something you apply directly to facial herpes."--theagonybooth.com Posts: 2037 | From: Reston, VA | Registered: Feb 2004
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Who could forget Different Strokes when Nancy Reagan visits Arnold's class?
-------------------- It's like they took a bunch of movies, put them in a blender and turned it on really fast!-Mystery Science Theater 3000 Posts: 2603 | From: Magna, Utah | Registered: Aug 2004
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quote:Originally posted by VersesBatman: Remember the Very Special Episodes in 80's sitcoms? My personal favortie as far as camp goes is Saved By The Bell. Jesse gets hooked on No-Doz and has this break down. funniest thing I ever saw.
"I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...so scared!"
Someone posted a music video version of this scene on YouTube!
-------------------- me: "So then there was this one guy that wrote a poem insulting the girl that organized the poetry reading." Amy: "...Was the guy you?" Posts: 22 | From: Florida | Registered: May 2006
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quote:Originally posted by CherryQueen: Or the "Zack has a sip of beer and crashes his dad's car" one. Or, oooh! The "College Years" one where they guys ask Screech to get them the nitrous. These are ALL classics. I hafta to give my top vote to the "drunk driving" episode of "Growing Pains". Matthew Perry drives drunk not once, but TWICE, and dies the second time!
Matthew Perry was on Growing Pains? I had no idea.
-------------------- Officially Heartless Posts: 3065 | From: The Montgomery County of the West Coast- Berkeley, CA | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by VersesBatman: Remember the Very Special Episodes in 80's sitcoms? My personal favortie as far as camp goes is Saved By The Bell. Jesse gets hooked on No-Doz and has this break down. funniest thing I ever saw.
"I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so...so scared!"
Someone posted a music video version of this scene on YouTube!
I remember seeing that episode multiple times and her freak out at the end is hilarious every single time.
-------------------- "Taking all the pain I give you Loving blindly in return And I need you more than ever" WWW.Myspace.com/E_E2000 Posts: 1243 | From: Northern VA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
This puts me in mind of the commercial I posted about a few days ago. Here's a link to the commercial. I think we came to the conclusion that it's about date rape. What I didn't like about the ad is that there's no mention of what the kid was on. As you guys have pointed out, another instance of grouping all drugs together. According to the commercial, anything that gets you "high" is evil, bad, and makes you into rapist scum.
-------------------- "You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble Puppy." -Mustapha Mond, "Brave New World" Posts: 679 | From: New York | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Starla: Ultimately, it's your life and your choice, but acting as though drugs and other intoxicants are harmless is just as foolish as inflating the dangers.
I'm not saying they're harmless at all, I'm saying that, as a way of stopping people taking xxxx it's not the best way of getting the message across - Have you stopped drinking since making a dumb decision when drunk?
Do the stories of people freezing to death when drunk stop you drinking? I presumed from the tone that these adverts were "anti-drug" rather than "be careful when you get pissed or do crystal meth". [/QB]
I did stop drinking with the intent of getting drunk (as opposed to having the occasional single drink) since making a dumb decision while drunk. Watching a close friend nearly destroy her life* and then deny she had a problem made me carefully evaluate my own drinking.
The tone of those adverts is "don't do it" as opposed to "be careful," you're right. However, can one ever be truly careful while intoxicated? I would argue that crystal meth is never safe.
Drinking is risky as well. People often start intending to get only a little buzzed, but once the buzz starts and inhibitions are lowered, intentions often get discarded. In order to be safest, not drinking would be ideal. Being in full control of one's faculties, aware of one's surroundings, and able to make sound choices is the safest way to be. All those "watch out" warnings are easily forgotten once one is drunk. It's easy to think, "I would never go out in a blizzard while intoxicated," but no one can really guarantee their actions while high. Thus, "don't do it" may not be the most popular message, but it is the wisest one.
When one has 30 seconds to get a message across, one must be simple and concise. "Have or Be a Designated Driver" ads are proof that the "be careful" message is sometimes given. But it is easier to say "don't do it" than it is to get into the intricacies of being careful, what that means, and how practical it is.
*She seriously assaulted a friend of ours. The police wanted to press felony charges, which would have ended her teaching career, but the girl who was assaulted refused to testify so the case had to be dropped.
-------------------- This used to be the life, but I don't need another one. MyBandwagon Posts: 3254 | From: small town Texas | Registered: Jan 2004
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I remember that one from back in the day. I'm watching some clips from it on youtube.
"I hate to suggest this, but my guess would be...marijuana." Ah, laughable is an understatement!
-------------------- "You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of Centrifugal Bumble Puppy." -Mustapha Mond, "Brave New World" Posts: 679 | From: New York | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote:Originally posted by CherryQueen: Or the "Zack has a sip of beer and crashes his dad's car" one. Or, oooh! The "College Years" one where they guys ask Screech to get them the nitrous. These are ALL classics. I hafta to give my top vote to the "drunk driving" episode of "Growing Pains". Matthew Perry drives drunk not once, but TWICE, and dies the second time!
Matthew Perry was on Growing Pains? I had no idea.
-------------------- "Hilariously, he pronounces "Sauron" as "Sore-on", which sounds like something you apply directly to facial herpes."--theagonybooth.com Posts: 2037 | From: Reston, VA | Registered: Feb 2004
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Rhiandmoi
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
I think a lot of the Peer Pressure Skits are meant to mimic our own inner dialogue. The kid pressuring us to take drugs to be cool and fit in is ourselves. But since you can't really act out an inner dialogue in most grade school lunchrooms, there is a bad kid and a good kid, but both kids are meant to be us.
-------------------- I think that hyperbole is the single greatest factor contributing to the decline of society. - My friend Pat.
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