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Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 07:14:48 PM EST
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How lame. The Bush Administration's Office of Narcotics and Drug Control Policy has uploaded its anti-drug videos to YouTube.

The Bush administration is taking its fight against illegal drugs to YouTube, the trendy Internet video service that already features clips of wacky, drug-induced behavior and step-by-step instructions for growing marijuana plants.

The decision to distribute anti-drug, public service announcements and other videos over YouTube represents the first concerted effort by the U.S. government to influence customers of the popular service, which shows more than 100 million videos per day.

The reasoning:

"If just one teen sees this and decides illegal drug use is not the path for them, it will be a success," said Rafael Lemaitre, a spokesman for the drug office.

One video that's up:

.... a previously televised, 30-second ad of a teenager running from a snarling dog and bemoaning pressure from his friends to smoke marijuana.

The Government has cleverly multi-linked the videos:

The government linked its videos with the terms "war on drugs," "peer-pressure," "marijuana," "weed," "ONDCP" and "420," so anyone searching for those words on YouTube could find its anti-drug messages. All the videos were associated with a YouTube account named "ONDCPstaff" and identified as an 18-year-old living in Washington. The term 420 is a popular reference for marijuana.

[Via Huffington Post.]

Will it work? Don't bet on it. If anything, you will start to see more parodies of the commercials on YouTube created by those who oppose the War on Drugs.

< U.S. Marijuana Arrests at All-Time High | NBC Scores With "Studio 60" >

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    Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube | 13 comments (13 topical)
    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 08:58:03 PM EST
    Oh great. Just what we need: video spam.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#2)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 09:44:15 PM EST
    I don't agree with their tactics, but the kids will see right through it anyway, and the internet is open to anyone. So let them try. Our focus should be at the government level.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 10:14:30 PM EST
    actually, from a logical view, it makes perfectly good sense: put them where the target audience congregates. will it work is an entirely other matter. beats me. nothing else has since nixon "declared" war on drugs back in 70 or so, and created that useless vacuum of cash called the DEA. that they have to hide it, using a fake user, is sort of clue as to this whole administration's view of the world.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 02:13:19 AM EST
    that they have to hide it, using a fake user, is sort of clue as to this whole administration's view of the world.
    It's the party of moral responsibility. Ahem... ---edger

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 03:22:06 AM EST
    From another documentary that hit YouTube today about the neocons and their War on Drug/Terror called "Kill The Messenger":
    "the film presents a terrifying picture of Turkish networks' activities in global nuclear black-market, narcotics and illegal arms trafficking activities in the United States, and examines the extraordinary efforts of officials within the US Government to insure that the secrecy surrounding (Sibel) Edmonds' case be maintained at any cost - from Edmonds' termination from the FBI, to invoking the State Secrets Privilege, to gagging the US Congress. "
    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 08:53:20 AM EST
    Yeah, sorry Jeralyn, but I'm with the others - I think the government should make all of the videos it produces available freely, and if YouTube is a cheap way to do that, I'm all for it. If the commercials are lame, everyone will see that - and fewer people will know it and ask for accountability if no one sees them. I was a child in the era of the "Consumer Information Catalog, Pueblo, Colorado," so I know the government makes billions of flyers, brochures, booklets, books, worksheets, videos, and more. Make them all available free online, through YouTube, Google, and wherever else. We paid for them. Once we see them, we can judge whether we spent well.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 01:42:47 PM EST
    This is going to infuriate lonelygirl16.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    Does YouTube measure clicks? If so, we could document how lame the govt program actually is.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    All their little propaganda commercials do is get people interested in drugs...they may as well be posted by drug dealers. The classis one with the frying egg always gave me the urge to get high and go to the diner for 2 over easy with bacon extra crispy.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    *sigh* We had a Hempfest/Freedom Rally on the Boston Common this past weekend. The "freedom" was overshadowed by the booked bands railing on pot smokers between every song, at every break and any chance they got. Apparently the sponsoring radio station was strongarmed in some way. Whether you choose to smoke as civil disobedience or not, the anti-drug message sure was a buzz-kill.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#10)
    by SeeEmDee on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 05:34:42 PM EST
    Does the ONDCP honestly think the kids are going to swallow this blindly? How much self-abasement do they desire? The kids will laugh up their sleeves at this...as they have been doing for years. More wastes of our money...

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#13)
    by libdevil on Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 04:20:29 PM EST
    I don't see any problem, really, with the government posting on YouTube. The war on drugs is a national disgrace, but within its context, what's the big deal? YouTube is free distribution for video they've already got. Seems like a good idea. And I'd hardly call "ONDCPStaff" a fake account. There's nothing misleading there. The demographic information might be off, since it's probably used by more than one staff member, but that's hardly criminal.

    Re: Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube (none / 0) (#12)
    by kdog on Wed Sep 20, 2006 at 06:38:09 PM EST
    mfox...I was at a NORML rally in Atlanta where the speakers did the same...they were begging people not to burn. I guess they are just scared of getting locked up....but I think that's kind of the point of such rallys.

    Gov't Puts Anti-Drug Videos on YouTube | 13 comments (13 topical)