Alien Abduction: My Anti-Drug Or Wasteful Government Spending

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Published on Thursday, 19 March 2009

Written by Kris Krane, SSDP

The strangest thing happened to me the other day. I was sitting on a park bench with my girlfriend enjoying some marijuana. While I knew she disapproved, I went ahead and smoked a joint anyway.

Next thing I knew, a flying saucer descended from the sky and we were visited by a space alien! Not wanting to seem ungracious, I offered our new friend a puff of my joint. He declined.

My girlfriend, sick of my pot smoking and enamored by the alien's courage, immediately fell in love with our new little green friend. Before I knew it, she was boarding his flying saucer to fly away together to a far away galaxy where they would live happily ever after, leaving me heartbroken with only my joint to console me...

Does this scenario sound ridiculous to you? Believe it or not, this is actually an advertisement designed by our government to keep young people from smoking marijuana!

Since 1998 the federal government has spent over $1.5 billion on anti-drug ads targeted at youth that are nothing more than mindless propaganda, mocked by young people as this generation's version of "Reefer Madness". Independent studies conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Westat and Texas State University have all found that these ads actually cause more drug use among teens who view them!

President Obama has pledged to cut wasteful government spending by eliminating programs that are ineffective, and the Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign is as ineffective as government programs get.

While the program will receive $70 million this year, the administration is already developing its spending priorities for 2010.

Thanks to lobbying efforts by SSDP, our friends at the Marijuana Policy Project and Drug Policy Alliance, and you, the ad campaign budget has been cut by 66% since 2002. With your help, we can eliminate the program altogether next year!

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