you may remember my rant about the television commercials that accused drug users supporting terrorism. one featured people saying things like "i helped kill a judge" and "i helped blow up buildings" intermixed with sentiments that it was just harmless fun. at the end, the ad read: "where do terrorists get their money? if you buy drugs, some of it might come from you." it's an appalling statement that's inaccurate, short-sighted and uses a culture of fear manufactured post-September 11th to merge the War on Terrorism with the War on Drugs.

thankfully, the response was as encouraging as the ads were distasteful. polls showed people all over the country saw right through the absurdity. stoners and clean-and-sobers alike were irate. i even read one article which pointed out that it's the War on Drugs itself that supports terrorism by creating illegal markets and refusing to legalize and monitor the drug industry. it compared the drug use gives money to terrorists argument to accusing beer drinkers of being responsible for Al Capone murders. nice.

recently, columnist and former right-winger Arianna Huffington came out with TV ads that mirrored the style of the "drugs = terrorism" commercials the government had put out only with gas-guzzling SUVs at their focus. the "gas = terrorism", as you might remember, was my initial response to the anti-drug ads.

but the War on Drugs is back.

the latest installment of these anti-drug commercials lacks just as much perception. the scene is two kids getting high in dad's study. the ad shows several versions of the same slice of the scene. in the last version, one kid pulls a gun from his desk and says, "don't worry, it's not loaded." a second later, the gun goes off. the ad ends by stating that drugs impair the ability to use judgment.

is this an anti-drug commercial or an anti-gun commercial? sure, the drugs impaired judgment but i've read dozens of news stories where a kid -- a completely sober and unimpaired kid -- found his dad's gun, started playing with it, and ended up shooting his friend by accident. the blame is not on the whacked out kids. the blame is on the parent for leaving a loaded and unlocked gun accessible to his children. the blame is on legislators for not passing stricter gun controls or at least requiring trigger locks. the blame is on the culture of firearms we are unwilling or unable to give up.

and don't even get me started on the fact that alcohol, which also impairs judgement and kills tens of thousands of people in car accidents alone, is conveniently spared from this tirade.

who is making these commercials and why are they so short-sighted? why are they only able to see the causes that are convenient to their argument? i'm not advocating handing out joints to anyone who asks but there are greater problems than dope.