By Dylan Murphy
Staff Writer
The Super Bowl is known for its advertisements. Big names like Coke and Pepsi spend millions for mere seconds of airtime to brandish their new commercials. But what does our government use this golden time for?
On this Sunday, during the Super Bowl presentation on Fox, the government turned its hatred of terrorism within its own borders. They did so by spending millions to air two anti-terrorism commercials blaming America’s drug buyers for providing the capital for recent acts of terrorism.
The ad is based on the fact that opium and heroin were the two biggest cash crops for Afghanistan while under the Taliban’s control. Knowing the number of different drugs and their sources, can the government really stand behind this accusation? The recent advertisement was offensive, as well as a dangerously broad statement to make to the American people, especially those to who are struggling with a drug problem.
Our country, whether we like to admit it or not, is home to millions of illegal drug users. And for years the government has waged what they call the “War on Drugs,” which, in effect, is really a war on its own citizens.
Drug addicts have a sickness, and it’s called addiction. And while many of us have been fortunate enough not to experience a drug addiction and cannot understand the actions of the people with this disease, does this give the government the right to blame them for providing capital for terrorist attacks?
Drug abusers are victims of addiction, victims who have faced abuse and have tried to find a way to face the realities of an often cruel world. Something must be done to help these people, but that something is not to make them feel responsible for the death of their fellow countrymen.
Surely, those suffering from drug use didn’t appreciate the use of approximately $3.5 million of their tax dollars on telling them that they were to blame for the recent terrorist attacks. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for the government to use the money to help our people, instead of making them feel like killers?
The government spends billions for its “War on Drugs” to reduce the supply of drugs in our country, but the supply is not the fixable problem. The cost of a kilogram of cocaine can multiply by more than 10 times when brought to America. Knowing the profit that is available in this business, consider the chances of stopping the drugs from coming in. Just last year, a border official estimated that with all their efforts and funding, his department still only prevents between 20-30 percent of the drugs coming into this country, a mere tip of the enormous iceberg.
If we want to help solve this country’s drug problem we must start by addressing the problems of the users, not by sticking them in jail or by blaming them for terrorism, but by finding effective programs to treat drug addiction.
Since there is nothing that will stop the flow of drugs into our country, the government needs to focus on the demand side. We need to provide aid to those who are addicted and for those who are at risk. We need better education campaigns. We need for our politicians to use some common sense when dealing with the issue.
Americans who have fallen to addiction are not terrorists, but on Sunday night, they were made to feel like ones.
February 07, 2002