YOUR BODY, THEIR PROFITS

There are plenty of problems with Washington's failed war on drugs -- among
them, the obsession with using bombs and bullets in places like Colombia,
and the emphasis on incarcerating millions of U.S. drug users rather than
helping them kick their habits.

But what turned many average Americans into raving cynics has been the
silly, "this is your brain on drugs" ads that blanketed the airwaves at
taxpayer expense. These ads confused and somewhat exaggerated the dangers
of drug use, as if smoking an occasional joint were as damaging as being a
full-blown heroin addict. It was no way to persuade young people.

So it was a welcome change on Sunday to see the White House's new anti-drug
publicity campaign, unveiled during the Super Bowl game. Instead of the
usual hysteria and lies, the edgy and intelligent TV ads focused on drugs'
money trail -- how the narcotics business supports terrorism, death squads
and war from Colombia to Mexico, Burma and Afghanistan.

"I helped kill families in Colombia," a youth says, looking at the camera.
Tight cut to a young woman -- "I helped kill a judge."

Tight cut to another kid, in denial. "My life, my body." Tight cut, more
denial. "It's not like I was hurting anybody else."

It's true. Without billions of dollars from U.S. hipsters and addicts,
murderous foreign mafias would be unable to finance their web of violence
and corruption.

So why are activists complaining? Drug-policy reform groups have harshly
criticized the new campaign, as if it were the sign of impending fascism.

Many of these same activists have (justifiably) protested U.S.
corporations' sweatshop-labor abuses and human-rights violations at
overseas production facilities.

It's time for them to use the same moral logic when handing their dollars
to the drug trade.