Coinciding with the (coincidental!) release of a CDC survey that found Hispanic teens more likely to use drugs and try suicide than black and white kids, the Office for National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) launched this really weird campaign.
The heading above the girl at left says, “I sell drugs during recess.” And here’s one where a sheepish-looking boy divulges, “Yesterday, I offered marijuana to your daughter.”
The effort will appear in print, on TV and over the radio.
Paranoid parents aren’t necessarily known for their capacity to communicate well with their children — which is one of the real weapons against the so-called “war on drugs.”
The campaign could also become ammunition for the actual playground sharks. I can hear it already: “Teacher, the prepubescent ESL kid is HIGH!”
Kids can be mean. They’re even meaner when your parents are overprotective, your English is cursory and you look younger than you should. The last thing marginalized Hispanic kids need is a media buy depicting them as drug dealers. Ads focusing on marijuana abuse treatment would have been better.
This isn’t the first time the ONDCP turned good intentions into bad propaganda.
