The new drug ads

[candyslut]

Just say No

i also find these ads annoying - but i do appreciate the conundrum that anti-drug campaigns place the government in.

on one hand - i guess the conservative populace demands that active anti-drug campaigns are foisted upon Australia....

on the other hand - i'm sure government/law enforcement bodies realise the statistics of how many kids try/use drugs and realises that these ads are somewhat futile

i feel there will never be a way to attractively market anti-drug campaigns to youth....they always seem *uncool* and the fact that they blatantly exaggerate and borderline lie means that informed youth regard them with scorn.

Harm minimisaiton (IMO) is a far more effective way of reaching youth regarding the dangers and risks of drug taking - turning a blind eye to usage and experimentation and expecting that kids will swallow everything they see on TV is ridiculous

but as i said. it's what a large percentage of the population would like to see more of....so.....that's what we'll see

Yeah, this is what I think is the really insidious things about ads that grossly exaggurate usage of illicit substances. The fact that children look at those ads and probably do get a little scared. Except when, for various reasons, they do try something for the first time they realise that the reality of drug usage is far different.

This reality being that many people use drugs without it leading to amphetamine psychosis, permananent mental damage and yes, even death.

It's a great paradox given that when and if kiddies use drugs, they realise what a crock of shit prohibition is and are then more likely to abuse illicit substances given a sense of invinsibility arising from the realisation that drugs do not kill (but, unequivocally, a lack of education with what to do with them does).


GOD I HATE PROHIBITIONISTS. So freaking short-sighted. I know this is turning into a rant, but...

 

[nephron]

One thing I find really concerning is that through exaggeration of the effects of some drugs, they'll not be able to educate about the dangers of more, well, dangerous ones.

For example, my health teacher went on and on about how anyone who used cannabis would become psychotic... when half the class had already used it and not had that- so they never listened to anything else she had to say, be it about contraception, drink/drugged driving...

 

[Dino_as]

I saw more of the ads. I doubt they will make any difference. Most teenagers don't have a fear of the unknown.

 

[Mean Girl]

Prohibition and the 'just say no' approach simply have no impact a majority of users.

Perhaps indeed the just say no/prohibition methods fail to make a majority of people take the government message to heart and either stop using or don't start. However, I dare say there is an majority impact of those ads - for the people to throw something at the telly.

I remember many years ago with those tacky "bag the fag" ads, there were infinetely more girls in the girls toilet the next day lighting up and laughing at it's stupidity. Upon sharing a Stuvy with a 7th grader, she commented that she was giving it a shot to spite the advertisements. Perhaps a similar comparison can be drawn with these new ads. I know after I watched the marijuana ad, I went out and punched a cone

 

[doofqueen]

^^ haha yeah it's kinda like the smoke ads where they show you how icky your lungs look etc and you just go have a smoke anyway.

We know the dangers and it still doesn't stop us.

I think the 'just say no' is stupid because people are going to do it anyway. "just say know " would be a much better aproach.

In Pe/health/pd class today we actually talked abour drug education and apparently in high school they are teaching kids to use drugs safely rather than not use them at all (of course they say that too but they are still educating them on safe use) It's a start i guess.

 

[drinky_mcbeer]

^^ not in my school

 

[Oceanboy]

1. Magnesium for teeth.

2.That girl in the E ad in the club did not look she was on E.

3.I agree with the anti-marijuana and anti smoking ads.

4.Alcohol and tobacco are the biggest causes of drug deaths.

5.Prescription/Pharmaceutical/Chemist' products, Supermarket and junk and processed foods ; you may not know what they'll do to you.

 

[katmeow]

The most succinct post I think I've seen you make oceanboy

*nods in agreement*

 

[silvia saint]

i sometimes wish i was a billionaire, just so i could make some pro / positive drug ads. the mainstream networks (those that are anti drugs due to ratings needs) would have to cave in and put them to air thanks to the ridiculous amounts of cash i'd be able to offer. sigh

 

[UnSquare]

Bout 5

"What time's Bobby commin' round?"

 

[electreauxbella]

lol

the new drug ads are like coming down on a sunday afternoon - seemed like a good idea at the time but in reality it sucks...

 

[maxload]

*poor unco-ordinated kid drops an absolute sitter and the other team scores*- Maybe the government shouldn't have cut back on PE classes. Pot is no excuse. Our sunday football team always meet for cones before a pick up game at the park and always flog the shit out of the same poor saps, they even start arguing because despite being wasted pure class will always float to the surface. They forget to mention how preformance can be lifted with some drugs (however I have my suspicions on the success of the Windies in cricket at home for countless years, the local shit must have been too strong for the tourists)
*girls bag bloke for staring at the wall for a few hours* Cut the bloke some slack! If you 2 were a bit better looking he might be undressing you with his eyes. Instead he is coming up with the solution for world hunger. That or the quickest route to Maccas. The idea for my novel (that has now been advanced by a publishing house) came one morning as I stared at the confines of my bedroom walls.
*dodgy mix of speed in some ones house* If hygiene was a priority how do you explain the state of 80% of bongs. We are talking aboout the same people who will do lines on a toilet seat lid then pash a random girl in a club who has a mouth worse than "Bleeding Gums" Murphy from the simpson's.
*Cracked front teeth* If yur dentist was any good he would have picked up your bruxism at one of you 6 monthly(!) visits and constructed a splint for $600, half the price of a single root canal. Also, how do you explain the 90% of bruxism patients are middle aged men and women on anti depressants who tut-tut the anti drug ads.

 

[drinky_mcbeer]

not everyone who does speed will do lines off a toilet seat of makeout with crackwhores.

 

[UnSquare]

Kick It To Me

Original Gold By Maxload
despite being wasted pure class will always float to the surface

:D

 

[kryalkastleE]

gg

 

[ticktock]

I'm all for them. I can tell you if they televised these adds say 3 years ago, it would have scared me away from doing so many drugs and I would be in a much better position than what I'm in now. these ads have scared my younger brother away from getting mixed up any further with ecstasy, pot and speed. I think it's a good thing for young people to be aware of what COULD happen.

 

[Donny Don't]

I'm all for these ads.

I didn't take pill until i was 21, even though the temptation was there several years earlier. I was scared of "what it'd do to me" but in the end curiosity won over. I'm so thankful that I waited, because who knows what path I could have taken had i tried it in my youth.

I laugh when i see these ads now, but if they're gonna deter the growing number of teenagers taking up the drug then i'm all for it.

 

[Spleh]

The only reason people won't know what ecstasy could do to them is because of lack of accurate drug education and also it's illegal meaning potentially anything could be in the pill including a bady synthed or impure product. The risk factor would be far lower with proper education on the subject and lab synthed legal mdma. These campaigns against drugs never work they need to wise up and go for harm reduction rather then trying to eradicate the drugs all together because it just wont work...

 

[hhc_king]

i think these ads are higly funny...and i just laugh at them as much as possibly ...

 

[Tronica]

I've just read this thread from start to finish, and was pleased to read some thoughtful comments. It's difficult, as someone who's used these drugs, to sympathise with this campaign. It's obviously aimed at people who haven't used drugs - young kids and conservative parents/others.

I guess the main problem I have with the campaign is its slogan. "You don't know what it'll do to you". Well, uh, I actually do know... and so do a whole lot of other people. People take drugs for this very reason. To get high without having to drink alcohol. The slogan makes the entire campaign into a total joke for people who participate in drug use. And to those who don't know much about drugs, they promote suspicion and fear.

When I first saw the ads, this was my main thought too. The irony is that people take drugs exactly because they know the effect they will have! OK, there are other factors - namely 'set' and 'setting' - and if you want to control the experience a bit better, you'll learn about how certain drugs interact with set and setting. People still come to harm of course... and many of these harms can be avoided, through harm reduction strategies that include reducing your use if you have any of these bad experiences highlighted in the ads.

Since I've slowed down my own 'big nights out' and have been working as a full-time research assistant, I've started working on a project which I hope will provide a lot more of a balanced view of drug use as it fits into people's everyday lives. The study is described well in this ITM article. I'm one of the five field workers for the project. It basically means going out to nightclubs and parties, chatting to people there, and writing a narrative of the event. I'm in Melbourne and have gone out to a few clubs and house parties, and written them up! [no real names used, of course]

I'm writing this all in here because I think this project has the potential to get some information into research in Australia which can counteract the stereotypes protrayed in the ad campaign. If you are interested in taking part in some way, PM me. One of the things we're doing is going out with someone and writing a story that describes their night out/in. Also, Cameron is doing some interviews (see this thread).

Thanks guys