Propaganda Prop

Mike Alissi notes that the current (December 30) issue of The New Republic contains a full-page ad from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. The same ad appears on the back cover of the December 31 National Review. Ostensibly aimed at teenagers, it defends the idea that drug users are responsible for the "intimidation, bribery, torture and murder" associated with the black market created by prohibition. Since the ONDCP is probably not trying to protect TNR and NR readers from the perils of drugs, the ad actually serves another purpose: legitimizing a rhetorical strategy that even supporters of the war on drugs have condemned as illogical and over the top. It is probably not good news for the drug warriors that they feel compelled to run ads in political journals defending their ads on TV.