Marijuana Policy Project

Washington, D.C. — The first of a provocative new series of television commercials challenging the government's massive anti-marijuana ad campaign will begin airing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Feb. 27. The campaign is being mounted by the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), headed by "Drug Czar" John Walters, spent $185 million last year on broadcast and print ads linking marijuana to violence and terror, but new evidence suggests they may be counterproductive. An independent evaluation, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and released in January, reported that "there is no evidence yet consistent with a desirable effect of the Campaign on youth," while teens who saw the ads most often "tended to move more markedly in a `pro-drug' direction" in their attitudes over time.

MPP's new ad confronts the government's commercials head-on, parodying ONDCP's "Nick and Norm" spots, in which two men discuss whether buying marijuana funds terror. In MPP's version, Nick notes that the marijuana trade may support violence because marijuana is illegal, while "If I buy a beer, that doesn't support terror, because beer is legal, right?" When Norm agrees, Nick concludes, "So what you're saying is if we make marijuana legal and regulate it like beer, it wouldn't support violence."

The commercial ends with the tag line "Marijuana prohibition. Harmless?"

Walters used his anti-marijuana ads against MPP's Nevada marijuana initiative, Question 9, this past fall. He has since refused the Nevada Secretary of State's request that he disclose his campaign expenditures.

MPP's commercial will air during morning and evening news programming on the ABC, CBS, and FOX affiliates in Washington, D.C. The initial $20,000 ad buy will run through March 7.

The commercial script appears below, and the ad itself can be viewed online here. Television producers needing broadcast-quality copies should contact MPP Director of Communications Bruce Mirken. The independent evaluation of ONDCP's ads is available here.

"Drug Czar John Walters spent $185 million of our tax money last year to lie to the American public with misleading, dishonest scare ads," said MPP Executive Director Robert Kampia. "Our ad tells the truth: Marijuana doesn't cause violence, but prohibition does — by forcing marijuana into the unregulated criminal underground."

With 11,000 members nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana — both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. To this end, MPP focuses on removing criminal penalties for marijuana use, with a particular emphasis on making marijuana medically available to seriously ill people who have the approval of their doctors.

####

"Did I Say That?"

[Two men are sitting in a restaurant, talking.]

NICK: Okay, so maybe a little of the money I spend on marijuana supports terror and violence.

NORM: Right.

NICK: And that's because marijuana is illegal.

NORM: Exactly.

NICK: When I buy a beer, that doesn't support terror, because beer is legal, right?

NORM: Now you've got it.

NICK: So what you're saying is if we make marijuana legal and regulate it like beer, it wouldn't support violence.

NORM: Did I say that?

[Silence. Text appears on black screen.]

Marijuana prohibition. Harmless?

Paid for by the Marijuana Policy Project
1-877-JOIN-MPP (toll-free)
www.MarijuanaPolicy.org

####