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Underground > Switchboard >

(morons) LINKING DRUGS TO TERROR

19:38 / 04.02.02

from http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20020204/re/media_advertising_superbowl_dc_2.html I didn't see the fucking thing, but it's the exact image of evil i've been worried about...

LINKING DRUGS TO TERROR

The anti-terror, anti-drug ads constituted a significant portion of the Office of National Drug Control Policy's $180 million annual ad budget, and represented the largest one-time government advertising expenditure ever.

Drug Control office spokesman Tom Riley said the Super Bowl was the perfect event to launch the new campaign, which suggested that since ``terrorists need money to do what they want to do, and if you buy illegal drugs, some of it might come from you.''

``Of 28 groups listed as terrorists by the State Department, almost half raise their money through drug trafficking,'' Riley said. ``It's not like every dollar you spend on pot goes to Osama Bin Laden, but the Taliban raised $50 million a year on heroin sales.''

Some questioned whether the Super Bowl was a good forum for such hard-hitting ads, which referenced previous ads from MasterCard and Monster.com.

``Tying drugs to terrorism was a little out in left field,'' said Bergstein. ``I understand terrorism is a hot-button issue, but it's an awful lot to ask television viewers to draw the line from the Taliban-warehoused poppy ... to the World Trade Center -- that's too oblique.''

``I thought they were effective and thought provoking,'' said Eisner Communications' Blum. ``The question is whether the topic is too serious for America's national holiday.''

19:47 / 04.02.02

I heard about this on NPR last week, but am desperately trying to believe it's all a bad dream.

20:08 / 04.02.02

There have also been concerns inside the drug culture of contaminated contraban coming out of Afghanistan and poisoning users on the streets. I for one doubt that, if America is indeed such a funder of the Taliban through the illicit drug trade, that they would risk losing such a large source of income by killing off the customer-base.

Unless of course, it gets tainted afterit gets here.

*cue sinister music*

The Planet of Sound

09:04 / 05.02.02

Mmm, yes, Osama undoubtedly wants to attack the west through its hopeless smack-addled junkies. Bound to happen.

Simple answer to ending the supply of money to terrorists through the drug trade; end the prohibition which enables profit through the smuggling of prohibited substances. Regulate/tax those substances. Eeeeeasy. Now why won't they do dat, I wonder?

Molly Shortcake

09:04 / 05.02.02

And all this time I thought they got their money from oil!

Molly Shortcake

09:32 / 05.02.02

quote:terrorists need money to do what they want to do, and if you buy illegal drugs, some of it might come from you.

SOoo.... a global economy isn't a good thing???

"We're losing the war on drugs. You know what that implies? There's a war, and the people on drugs are winning it. What does that tell you about drugs?" - Bill Hicks

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

09:32 / 05.02.02

Hey, I was told repeatedly by the Nintendo corporation that Winners Don't Use Drugs. And they made Duck Hunt (which, ironically enough, I'm a master at when stoned).

Bah. I think this time they've gone too far for the public to take them seriously, and that maybe they're underestimating how many people use/have used drugs. Either way, it hurts their credibility, which is good.

09:32 / 05.02.02

...after seeing the commercial last night, all I could think about was how Dubya probably saw the kids talking about drugs on the tv and told his staff to find them before they get away...

the knowledge +1

09:32 / 05.02.02

Reminds me of those adverts that were in comic-books about six months ago - Really ugly condescending things. 'Don't do drugs - there are ramifications!' Like what? Having a good time and forgetting your worries for a while?

Bush is such a knob. Did u know he got caught doing coke a few years back and his Daddy got him out of it.

Out of interest who currently takes drugs here? Who likes the Mary Jane? The cheeky Charlie?

09:32 / 05.02.02

I didn't click on the link cause I saw the ad the first time it was on. We all sort of stopped talking to watch it because it was one of the more interesting ads and you didn't know what it was about until it was over. When it ended we all sort of looked at each other and I said "Damn, I can't believe they did that." Like fucking stoners blew up the WTC. Jesus.

11:13 / 05.02.02

quote:Leading the pack in ad visibility and popularity was brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., with 10 ads running the gamut from humor -- in the form of slapstick mishaps featuring slippery satin sheets -- to patriotic sentiment, as the Budweiser Clydesdale horses paid an unexpected tribute to New York City and the Sept. 11 attacks.

Four Anheuser-Busch ads -- the satin sheet debacle, a pet falcon trained to ``fetch'' Bud Light, an attempt to play a bar-room Cyrano de Bergerac gone awry, and a seemingly mismatched battle of robots -- were among the five most popular, according to USA Today, which polled 118 viewers during the game.

No irony there, of course.

11:59 / 05.02.02

Just remember kids, only users lose drugs. (Usually down the back of the sofa, personally.)

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

12:22 / 05.02.02

Or all over the floor if you're trying to roll a joint while tripping off acid.

13:17 / 05.02.02

Saw it on Superbowl Sunday. Surely the money spent on the ad could have been better utilized someplace else. After the initial shock of the thing wore off I realized that the ad didn't mention any of the money that the Bush family has given the bin Laden family over the years, or the money the US gave the Taliban to counter the heroin trade in Afghanistan. This has been discussed in previous threads, I believe. And no mention of Noelle Bush, Jeb's daughter, who got busted for picking up an illegally written xanax prescription on Friday...

Anyway it reminds me of Nancy Reagan's 'Just Say No' campaign. Should be just as effective. Which adds to the argument that it's getting more and more like the 1980's right now, except we all get to die in more varied and horrible ways.

And why wouldn't the US gov't want its populace stoned right now? And who wouldn't want to be stoned? I know my drug use has spiked in the last 4.5 months...

13:35 / 05.02.02

well, the Bush family is heavily invested in Eli-Lily, the makers of Prozac...

13:49 / 05.02.02

Hey hey, we're the junkies!
People say we've blown up their town!
But we're too busy scoring
To knock any buildings down!

16:36 / 05.02.02

quote:Originally posted by Johnny the Zen bastard:
Or all over the floor if you're trying to roll a joint while tripping off acid.

I dunno Johnny, largest I ever rolled used 4 papers and a 1/2 oz, was perfectly rolled, smoked like a dream, and was born while under the influence of the largest sugarcube I've seen. Ok, call the thread rot police on me.

16:52 / 05.02.02

And why wouldn't the US gov't want its populace stoned right now? – invix

well, the Bush family is heavily invested in Eli-Lily, the makers of Prozac... – MJ-12

What isn't really being touched upon here, although MJ-12 came closest, is that the US goverment does want its populace stoned. On pharmecuticals. That's why you can't watch a bloody TV show without countless ads for pills to help you lose weight, digest your food, be more sociable, sleep better, cheer up...

16:57 / 05.02.02

Yeah, I thought about that right after I posted. Don't use these drugs, they're bad for you and they're destroying society. Use these drugs instead. Sigh. It's an old argument.

22:21 / 05.02.02

Remember, kids, booze and coke may have been okay for your president once, but not any more! Do as I say, not as I do....

22:26 / 05.02.02

quote:Originally posted by Ierne:
is that the US goverment does want its populace stoned. On pharmecuticals. That's why you can't watch a bloody TV show without countless ads for pills to help you lose weight, digest your food, be more sociable, sleep better, cheer up...

Soma for the Brave New World... who said we need a nine year revolution to institute a drug dependent economy.

The Damned Yankee

12:08 / 09.02.02

I was given to understand that the Taliban burned the poppy fields while they were in power. The Prophet forbids alcohol, and the Taliban extended that prohibition to mind-altering substances of all sorts. That was why they were given all of that lovely anti-drug money.

And you know what was the first thing many farmers did after the "heroic" Northern Alliance liberated them from Taliban rule? They planted poppies. Look for the price of smack to drop inside the next six months.

The Damned Yankee

12:17 / 09.02.02

Here's the link backing me up on that last post.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

13:17 / 09.02.02

Of course, there is no way they would have had the same ad, with a suburban mom filling up her SUV with 30 gallons of gas to take Billy to soccer practice saying, "I helped pay for bombs that blew up embassies."

It would be too close to the truth.

Of course, this administration would know that drug money can pay for terrorism, since Dick Cheney was knee deep in the Iran-Contra deal where the terrorists on our side were selling drugs to buy weapons from us.