Successful and Smoke Pot? Stand Up and Be Counted
The feds say pot smoking and success don't go hand-in-hand. I think the president might disagree....
By Jordan Smith, 12:36PM, Mon. Nov. 10, 2008

The narco warriors over at the White House Office of National Drug Control might not be very good at controlling the use of drugs, but they're always good for a laugh or two. Take, for example,their latest don't-do-pot ad campaign, which suggests that pot smoking leads to a life of limited opportunity, by featuring jobs for tokers -- including burrito taster, remote control operator, and couch security guard.
They're kind of funny, but mostly they're just really, really...dopey. The ads run with the cute little motto, "Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren't many jobs out there for potheads" -- which simply isn't true. Okay, well, it may be true for some jobs, but not for most -- like, for example, U.S. president (Barack Obama smoked pot, and, shit, we all know Bill Clinton was a toker, even if he still swears he never inhaled), or governor of Alaska (Sarah Palin has also admitted to a pot smoking past), or even country music icon (Willie Nelson). Writer/blogger Radney Balko and his readers have started a list of successful pot smokers, here. I'm sure we can keep the list going.
Meanwhile, the new ads have irritated the folks at the Marijuana Policy Project who not on their blog that the folks that created the ad, McKinney, are also responsible for creating advertising for Southern Comfort, a more addictive and deadly drug that is pot (and for good ironic measure, McKinney's office is located in Durham, N.C., in the American Tobacco Campus. Tobacco, as we know, is the No. 1 killer drug, responsible for more than 400,000 deaths each year. Notably, McKinney doesn't list any cigarette makers as clients.) Still, once again, the ONDCP has failed to roll out any ads that mention the dangers of drinking (or cigarettes).
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ONDCP, John Walters, marijuana, drug war