cannabisnews.com: McCaffrey Joins Pioneer Astronauts Aldrin, Collins





McCaffrey Joins Pioneer Astronauts Aldrin, Collins
Posted by FoM on September 13, 1999 at 13:09:19 PT
Students to Launch Online Drug Prevention Area 
Source: Boston Globe
 White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Barry R. McCaffrey joined pioneer astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Eileen Collins and Washington, D.C., students from Stuart-Hobson Middle School to introduce a youth drug prevention area on NASA's Web site. 
Additional participants included Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and NASA Administrator Dan Goldin. ''For young people who want to follow in my footsteps -- on the moon -- you have to be drug-free. Explore space, not drugs,'' said Aldrin. NASA is the first government agency to join ONDCP's extraordinary initiative, which encourages all federal agencies to voluntarily place anti-drug messaging and links on youth- and parent-focused areas of their Web sites. This program is part of ONDCP's five-year, $1 billion National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign. ''If your dream is to reach the stars, you can't get there by getting high,'' said McCaffrey. ''Through participation in the Web site initiative, NASA is serving as a leader in the campaign to keep America's youth drug-free. It is critical that all of us -- in the government and private sectors -- do everything possible to send this strong message to kids. An important part of this Campaign's strategy is to surround youth with drug-free messaging, wherever they spend their time, especially in locations where it might not be expected.'' ''A frequent online destination for children, the NASA anti-drug Web site will reinforce the message to explore space, not drugs,'' said Congressman Salmon. ''Thanks to General McCaffrey's leadership in expanding this campaign to other agencies, many more students will be reached,'' he continued. The drug prevention area of the NASA Web site features a variety of information about drugs, including clean-living quotes from astronauts, electronic postcards with anti-drug messages, information about the negative effects of specific drugs, and an assortment of games and entertaining links to keep kids coming back. In a way that kids respect and understand, the NASA site emphasizes that illicit drug use harms the mental, physical and social skills they need to become an astronaut or work for NASA. NASA was the first of 17 government departments and agencies (two more agencies pending) to participate in the Media Campaign's federal Web sites initiative, as of Sept. 13, 1999. ''From the SEC to the CIA to the Peace Corps, our entire federal team is setting an example of how we can reach young people,'' said ONDCP Director McCaffrey. The Media Campaign works closely with all interested federal agencies to develop contextually relevant drug-free messaging. Participation ranges from simply adding a link from an existing site to creating a full-fledged youth drug prevention area. By developing an extensive information network involving hundreds of Web sites and online areas across the Internet, the Campaign effectively targets youth, parents and other influential adults with messages about personal efficacy, negative consequences, peer acceptance and resistance skills. In 1997, with bipartisan support and through the united efforts of the Congress and the President, ONDCP and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America created the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, a five-year effort designed to educate and empower all youth to reject illicit drugs. The integrated social marketing and public health communications Campaign targets youth and adult audiences of every ethnicity and cultural background. Additional information can be found at: http://www.mediacampaign.org/inthenews/news.html By Associated Press, 09/13/99 14:36 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #8 posted by Charles Black on September 22, 1999 at 19:23:12 PT:
I no longer support NASA
If NASA is to support this drug war BS then I support of NASA is goint to do down quite a bit.I'll bet Ed White and Gus Grissom would have lived longer lives if they had become Marijuana Smokers instead of Astronauts.Hey, it is a Dangerous world out there, but drugs are a lot safer than flying space ships.
Windows Crypto
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #7 posted by FoM on September 14, 1999 at 21:40:49 PT
Thanks!
Excellent Comments Everyone! I've been busy and I just checked in and thank you all for such great input.Peace, FoM!
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #6 posted by observer on September 14, 1999 at 20:17:38 PT
effective propoganda?
Another example of this type of propaganda backfiring: Study: Government's anti-drug commercials make teenagers more curious about drugsWASHINGTON, DC -- A new study has discovered that teenagers who watch anti-drug TV commercials become more "curious" about illegal drugs. http://www.lp.org/rel/990910-drugs.html
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #5 posted by observer on September 14, 1999 at 20:09:52 PT
but is it effective propoganda?
"... but is it effective propoganda?"No, you're right: it seems to be destined to failure, accomplishing the opposite of what was intended.For example, "Children who go through the country's most popular anti-drug program are *less likely* to 'just say no' than those who just took regular health education classes..."http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2341.shtml
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #4 posted by brett on September 14, 1999 at 15:27:26 PT:
yes it's propoganda
but is it effective propoganda? will children give more weight to another hollow reiteration of the banal idea that drug use leads inevitably to failure, or to (for instance) the recent revelation that Carl Sagan was a responsible pot smoker? i think the latter. children are, as the propogandists like to say, "easily influenced" -- by facts and common sense. they do not have the "maturity" & "strength of character" to accept the party line in defiance of the evidence that dances in front of their eyes. why oh why is it that, as much propoganda as the drug warriors put out, children are still so influenced by "peer pressure"? simply because no matter how many times you tell a rational person "smoking pot makes you stupid/crazy/homocidal/lazy/evil," if they watch someone smoke pot before their very eyes & that person continues to be a happy & fully functional human being, they are likely to give due weight to the evidence of their own senses. the danger of this sort of propoganda is not so much in the effects it will have on children (who for the most part will continue to keep their eyes open & experience life for themselves, as much as they ever have), it is in the strangle hold it puts on the public discourse -- the fear struck in the heart of every citizen who would like to declare the emperor naked. 
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #3 posted by rainbow on September 14, 1999 at 06:06:22 PT:
recognition
Funny that my daughters (4th and 8th grade) are products of DARE and they do not know what the herb looks like. Some effective education they are getting. Instead they here tell on your fellow students and yes I the policeman am the authority.Rainbow
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #2 posted by Jeaneous on September 13, 1999 at 20:54:30 PT:
Agreement
I was just thinking the same thing about how our government is spreading it's propaganda all across this nation. It reminds me of tatics that were used in WWII, with planes flying over and sheets of propaganda floating out of the sky. At the rate this government is going I can see them to resorting to the same tatic. They are using television, radio, newspapers to spread their "word" without using the only thing that will work. Tell the truth. Educated people make educated decisions. Brainwashing only works until a slice of the truth is revealed, then trust is over.As far as the "programs" McCaffrey's group is using, they are not effective. Parents teaching children is the most effective way. My son was given a book published by ONDCP about drug use. There were pictures of all the drugs that are out there, plus there were pictures of all the equipment used to do the drugs and then written directions as to how to do the drug. As my son said, that's really stupid... all it does is show kids how to use drugs. He was true. The book showed more than any child should be exposed to without explanation. I wonder how many children were motivated to check the drugs out since they knew enough about them to get in a situation to be hurt.The whole issue of the "War on Drugs" is destroying this country from the inside out. If they win the war, our country will be dead.
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by observer on September 13, 1999 at 20:26:05 PT
propaganda
"____ joined pioneer astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Eileen Collins and Washington, D.C., students from Stuart-Hobson Middle School to introduce a ____ "propaganda technique: Appeal to Authority.  Appeals to authority cite prominent figures to support  a position idea, argument, or course of action. 
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: