When I hear someone talking about the "dangers" of marijuana use or about how LSD will make you jump out of a window, the first thing I think is "why am I listening to this person." The next thing that hits me is an understanding of the profound ignorance of their anti-drug arguments. It is true. Listen to any strongly anti-drug individual and you will hear little more than myth and misinformation. It does not shock me when a professional propagandist spreads propaganda. That is, after all, what they do. Interestingly (and depressingly), I often get the sense that the people who are actually charged with pushing the propaganda on the on the ground are true believers (or useful idiots). That's right, the people who are most often given license to educate the public on drugs are the least informed on the subject and actually believe the lies that they push.
I remember setting through more than my fair share of anti-drug presentations. The worst of these was given by a P.E. coach during my eighth grade year. I, being fourteen years old, didn't know a lot about drugs but I knew enough to know that what I was being told was incorrect. She told us that people start by becoming "addicted to marijuana" (at this point, I knew that things were going to get stupid). Once one is hopelessly addicted to marijuana, according to her, he or she will find that it is "not enough" and go on to doing harder drugs. This poor soul will then find them self "injecting heroin and smoking LSD." You didn't read that incorrectly, by the way. She actually told us that people smoke LSD. As ridiculous as all that sounds, she absolutely believed everything she said. You may say that maybe she was just dumb. Well, I would agree with that statement but mostly because she also told us that one could get pregnant from butt sex because "the sperm will find a way." She is not alone, though. I have seen countless true believers be completely misinformed while claiming to speak with authority and it is a problem (for reasons I covered in the last installment of Drug War Stupidity).
These misinformed "educators" are a sad result of prohibition. It stands to reason. The people who buy the propaganda when they are young grow to be very motivated to oppose drug use. They consume more propaganda without questioning it because they already "know" that drugs are bad. They seek out positions that allow them to spread the lies that they believe to be true and through their effort many people are lead down the path of ignorance.
This issue occurs by design. The drug war creates a system in which the only people who are allowed to advance in fields like drug education are the ones who actually believe the propaganda. The propagandists love these "useful idiots" because they bring the passion of belief to the cause selling falsehoods. If the poet Milton can be trusted (he seems like a smart guy, anyway), Falsehood cannot stand before Truth. If you see these lies being spread, try to correct them if you are able. Let us fight their falsehood with our truth.
Peace
This was another installment of a continuing series of posts that are intended to highlight some of the dumber things to come out of the war on drugs. If you liked this post, please feel free to check out my page for more similar content.
Unless otherwise credited, the images in this post are sourced from the free image website unsplash.com.
The work by Milton that I referenced is Areopagitica for anyone who is interested.