Obligatory:
“Your denial is beneath you, and thanks to the use of hallucinogenic drugs, I see through you.” -Bill Hicks
“This is your brain.” I’ve seen a lot of weird shit on drugs. I have never ever ever ever EVER looked at a fucking egg and thought it was a brain. Not once. Now, I admit, maybe I wasn’t getting good shit. " -Bill Hicks
The late, lamented. “Too hip for the room”
But didn’t he pass away before that commercial?
Erunh?
Well… if he did, then he had amazing powers of precognition.
This* is why I just can’t get too het up over stupid ad campaigns, even public service ones. Just about time the classic “egg/your brain on drugs” ad was running, some spiffy medical study–since reversed–decided the cholesterol in eggs was only slightly less toxic than swilling runoff from cooling tanks at the neighborhood nuclear power plant.
So while the anti-drug brain egg burned in a frying pan, the National Egg Council countered with lively cartoons extolling the virtues of…“the incredible, edible egg.” You didn’t have to be seriously messed up to either chortle with uncouth laugher or just roll your eyes far enough back in your skull to x-ray your own brain stem.
Veb
I haven’t lived my teenage life to the fullest, it seems. Should I feel unhappy about this? Happy? Here’s an idea: I won’t feel anything.
“Look, ma! No drugs!”
Hmm…a younger opinion here perhaps?
I’m a 17 year old female. Now, when I was young, my mother used to drill into my head all the bad things about drugs and alcohol. Part of this drilling was threatening to disown me if I ever so much as thought about trying drugs or even considered drinking underage unless she was supervising me drink while I drank a mouthful of revolting wine that she’d allow me on special occasions like birthdays. Another part of this drilling was to shamelessly over-exagerate statistics and try to scare the living bajeezus out of me. Sorry mother, didnt work. All that drilling just made me more and more curious. So what did I do at 15? Went on a bender WITH MY 17 YR OLD COUSIN and drunk after drinking a bit of vodka. It was fun. I passed out by the end of the night and had a killer hangover when I woke up but figured out for myself right then and there that all I had to do was work out my limits and go from there. I’ve had maybe 1 hangover since. About 6 months later, the same cousin offered me a toke on a joint. By this time I had been drinking and had figured that if my mum was so wrong about alcohol, drugs couldnt be that bad either. So off I went and smoked it. And I had a GREAT time. I listened to music, watched movies, had munchies and all the while couldnt stop giggling at nothing. I see nothing wrong with that whatsoever. From that point onwards, I didnt listen to any of my mothers “education”. That decision got me into various puddles of hot water but eh shmeh. My mother then decided to “clean” my room. By “clean” I mean pull everything out, read every letter, diary entry, look in all cupboards and drawers and basically take away all my privacy. Oh dear. What did she find? Apart from the bottle of vodka stashed inside my ugg boot, but also “stumbled upon” rollie papers and a pipe that was strategically stashed in the bottom of a locked box. At was at this point that not only did I no longer trust her words, but my trust for her judgment and actions went straight out the window. So I moved in with my dad.
Dad and I had a long D & M about substance abuse and such. We agreed that considering I was old enough to be punished for my actions that I was old enough to take responsibility for them. I was under no circumstances permitted to smoke weed in the house and he wouldn’t supply drugs. The only alcohol he would supply was for special occassions. If I could get a hold of this stuff by myself then I was free to judge my own limits and have a good time. If I was bought home by the cops, that would be put to a simple end.
During this time, I had cancer so the weed helped me chill out and actually enjoy my life.
Two things pissed me off about this whole thing. 1 is that a month after moving in with my dad, he accidently let it slip that it my mother was actually the one that introduced him to weed.
And 2. Age limit. Not only am I old enough to be punished for my actions, but I’m also aware of them. I know exactly what I’m doing to my body. I’m aware of the affects. I am also aware of the consequences if I’m caught by authorities. Now, and here’s the twist, if I am able to these things and be in control of my life, why is it not my life again? Why is it not my life until I’m over 18 and can feel free to fuck it up then? Is it your life to fuck up until then? No, but you do a pretty good job of it anyway.
Lesson: Don’t tell your kids that after something, its their life. Not true. Their lives started the second you conceived them. There’s a difference between being a parent and being a corrections officer. Don’t cross the line or you’ll find that your kids wont trust you, dont want anything to do with you and think of you as a hypocrite. I’m sure you don’t want that now do you?
I really would not be fun at parties. I would check all the sleeping people to see if they were not unconscious and would not drink at all myself. I might just bring a book and sit outside. And thank you for arming me with facts. Being a kid who doesn’t drink or do drugs, I am glad I have people like you to learn from.
If that was a dig, good for you.
If not, ah well.
I love the “holier than thou” attitude, guest. This is what makes the people who don’t drink or partake in recreational drug usage such a fucking drag-for some reason, you think you’re better than those who don’t.
:shrug: whatever gets ya off, kid.
Sam
Another quote seems apropos:
“I now realize there is one reason and one reason only that I do not quit smoking, and that is: spite. I hate you nonsmokers with all of my black little heart. Whiney self righteous slugs each and every one of you. My biggest fear if I quit smoking, is that I’ll become one of you.” -Bill Hicks.
And this quote from the OP isn’t “holier than thou”?
It’s somewhat hard to look at a quote about passing out in your own vomit and say that’s holier than thou.
Maybe holy people are a bit different where you’re from though…
chuckle 
I speak not for the OP…
An ad that would make sense to me wouldn’t even bother with real health risks associated with drugs, including alcohol. Most adults, much less teens, don’t connect those dots. Short term fun will trump nebulous long term risks every time. Ridicule hits home every time, though.
What might work is showing/mocking exactly how flat-out stupid, not to mention boring and/or repulsive, being completely bombed makes a person.
“Wanna be popular, boys and girls? Then party till ya puke! Nothing’s more attractive than horking up your innards! The guy/girl you really, really want to impress will remember stomach slime and chunks of your last meal dribbling off your chin. Eau du Puke! Wear it now.”
“Drugs make you fascinating.” (Visual of a slack-jawed stoner enthralled by a door jamb, or a meth head motormouthing about nothing, while bystanders elbow each other to get away.)
Some drugs may be relaxing or maybe even enlightening, consumed in discreet quantities and with deliberation. Damned few of 'em are very convivial, and that includes alchohol, more’s the pity. They’re just treacherous tools/blessings/curses for young AND old.
Veb
Somebody upthread mentioned that if a drunk kid had to be afraid of what could happen after they passed out, then they need better friends. Very roughly, there is some truth to that, but more often than not who your friends are can’t/doesn’t help. Every few years there’s big trouble at my school when a girl is sexually assaulted after a lot of drinking. They all thought they were with friends who would take care of them, forgetting that their friends might not all be sober or that a sexual assault can be frighteningly easy (and fast) to do. In the last case, the parents were supervising and it happened in a room with about six other people who either didn’t notice or thought it was consensual because the girl wasn’t resisting and the guy was so nice, everybody thought.
Rape is too high a price to pay for picking the wrong friends, but it happens much too often. I don’t think there’s going to be a solution to the problem any time soon, if ever. Can Americans can get their minds wrapped around trusting and guiding teens to make prudent decisions, if they were even willing to concede it should be an option?
Every time I think I’ve heard of the most boneheaded thinking by a young person (though poor reasoning skills are not exclusive to teens) ever, something comes along to shock the hell out of me. And these aren’t just a few stupid kids whose parents are doing lousy jobs, it’s that a good number of all kinds of kids are so sure they’re bulletproof. Even if you didn’t mix in an idiotic puritanical streak that leaves our teens poorly informed and vulnerable, it’s a recipe for disaster.
I can understand how a lot of parents realize they’re playing for very high stakes and are scared spitless. They believe that you just don’t know whether your kid is the one for whom pot or heavy drinking actually is a gateway and buy into the whole ‘abstinance only’ thinking. Doesn’t make it right or even smart, but I understand the fear, so I try to cut them some slack.
TVeblen, you’ll be happy to know that in speaking to my students about the dangers of smoking, they’re concerned about health risks sure, but horrified about smoking’s effects on their appearance. You’re onto something!
Wow, are either of these statements anything more than idiotic generalizations? Speak for yourselves, y’all, but I’ll keep in control of myself. The action of blasting one’s own mind is not a universal feature of people my age. Maybe it was when you two were growing up. (Projection, anyone?)
Psst… let me tell you a secret. The ones who feel the need to get blasted are NOT the ones who are emotionally mature!
Akkh!
Do you have any idea what the word ‘projection’ means?
60.5% of 18 to 25 year olds report having used drugs at one time or another.
87.1% of 18 to 25 year olds report having used alcohol.
Still wanna talk about what your generation [del]isn’t[/del] is doing?
Likewise, those who cop a moral trip because they don’t drink or use drugs aren’t emotionally mature, either.
As if any teen is “emotionally mature”. That’s a way of feeling like a grow’d up way before it’s official. When you look back, you’ll realize that.