Why L7s Cannot Win the Drug War

[Letter to Governor Gary Johnson, General Barry McCaffrey]

I was driving home yesterday after giving a talk on the risks from smoking and using tobacco products. A government-sponsored educational message about the dangers of marijuana played on the radio.

The spot discussed the short-term memory loss associated with smoking "weed." The message concluded saying this harmful by-product of marijuana use causes people to lose jobs and do poorly in school.

I am not sure the conclusions are correct, but I am not here to debate the content of the message. What is interesting is the events after the education piece ended.

The station playing the message was the popular Albuquerque station, FM 106. Most teens listen to this station. The format is primarily hip hop, dance and up-tempo beats. It is the "cool" station in Albuquerque.

Immediately after the anti-drug message ended, the music began. The song was a multi-million seller, a hip hop/gansta rap classic by Snoop Doggy Dogg. This piece is titled, "Gin and Juice."

The chorus focuses on Snoop singing, "I'm driving down the street smokin' [long breath], drinkin' gin and juice." In the CD version, Snoop sings that he's smoking "endo." This is street slang for smoking weed or marijuana. In the radio version, the word endo is removed and we hear what can be interpreted as someone taking a long drag on a marijuana cigarette. Of course, the L7s don't catch all this.

There you have it. While the government spends millions of dollars to educate our youth about smoking endo. A local radio station, probably without realizing it, provides a powerful counter message.

Snoop Doggy Dogg is a cultural hero. To the L7s, he's a nightmare. The man not only glamorizes smoking weed, but he admits he's driving as he sips his gin and juice. This is DWI as well.

How do I know all this? I own almost all Snoop's CDs. I like the music. I believe I can filter his "art" from reality. I don't believe our youth are as effective at this. I do know that the government's message is not as cool as Snoop's. They don't provide the smooth, mellow rhythms in the way that he can.

This is why the government cannot win in the war against drugs. Americans do not believe, in principle, that we should rid society of drugs. We are a drug-addicted culture. Look in your bathroom cabinet. For most people, it is amazing the number of drugs we have collected over the years.

Each of the drugs in your cabinet can be harmful if abused. Many people think of weed, endo or marijuana the same way. Until researchers provide better evidence to the contrary, and until our cultural heroes understand this message, the L7s will not win the war against illegal drug use.

This is why Governor Johnson is on the right path. We must change the way we fight against substance abuse in this country. The L7s want to stop drug use with police. This makes heroes out of people like Snoop Doggy Dogg. This attracts a large audience -- mainly our youth.

Governor Johnson does not advocate drug use. He advocates transferring a portion of the billions of dollars used to police drug distribution and recommends spending this on education. Education represents truth. The only way we can win any war in this country is to focus on the truth. And the truth is we really don't know about marijuana. Provide these answers to our youth and they will make the right choices.

By the way, L7 is street slang for squares...

Response from readers

Dear Scott:
Nice letter.

McCaffrey only cares about spending more tax dollars ($20 billion annually by the feds) to proliferate the war against certain illegal drugs (that kill about 5,000 Americans annually). But he won't even criticize tobacco or alcohol companies, whose products kill 500,000 and 100,000 Americans annually.

And who has McCaffrey teamed up with to increase his war on certain drugs and their users? The Partnership for a Drug Free America, which refuses to acknowledge that tobacco and alcohol are drugs, and which is primarily funded by the tobacco and alcohol advertisers.

So the deadliest drug pushers are helping McCaffrey coordinate the nation's hypocritical and insincere war on drugs. The fox continues to guard the hen house.

William Godshall, MPH
Executive Director
SmokeFree Pennsylvania
412.421.0500

Case in Point: Dole Says Government Should Focus On Illegal Drugs, Not Tobacco

Republican presidential candidate Elizabeth Dole said the federal government should pursue an aggressive anti-drug campaign rather than sue the tobacco industry. "The thing that's interesting to me is here's the Clinton-Gore administration going so hard after (the lawsuit). Where are they on drugs?" Dole asked reporters after a speech to the Lexington (KY) Professional Women's Forum. "Why don't we see action when drugs are literally killing a lot of our kids, ruining their lives, not just children but adults as well? And yet that bully pulpit has not been used to really preach that drugs aren't cool, they kill," she said. Dole said she supports bans on vending machines and tobacco advertising aimed at youth.

Source: Tim Whitmire, "Dole Calls Tobacco Suit Misguided," ASSOCIATED PRESS, October 6, 1999.

In September, a George W. Bush spokesperson said in response to questions about the Clinton administration's intent to sue the tobacco industry, "(the Governor) hopes that the era of 'big government' is not being replaced by the era of 'big lawsuits.'"

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