A rare bit of truth in an ONDCP press release Of course, it's in the service of a new propaganda campaign.
Aimed at African American parents, the message in a new set of anti-pot ads seems to be the same old thing in a slightly different shade. But here's the bit of truth:
Overall, African American youth have substantially lower rates of use of legal and illegal drugs than their white counterparts.
How rarely this fact is mentioned, even when racial disparities in drug prosecutions are being examined. Of course we're still dealing with the ONDCP, so some spin is quickly applied:
However, according to a Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS, 2003), while marijuana use is declining among whites, its remains unchanged among Black and Hispanic youth. And among African American youth ages 12 to 17, one out of six (17.8%) reported using marijuana at least once in their lifetime (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2003).
I've got an alternate spin. If youth drug use rates in the African American community are already low, why allow professional image makers to bombard that community with messages and approaches that always result in failure?
And why are you and I paying for it?
11:38:37 PM | permalink |
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