BUZZ: YES, PLEASE

Billboards in Dallas have never been exactly what you might call tasteful.
Roughly nine out of 10, by our count, shill liquor, beer, cheap lawyers,
titty bars, DNA paternity testing, the TV show Divorce Court, or TV news
people.

Is there a theme here?

They're a bit seedy, but easy to ignore, except possibly for one new
billboard facing northbound Interstate 45 just south of downtown. Its terse
message: LEGALIZE DRUGS.

OK, there is definitely a theme here.

The billboard, which went up last week, is a project of Americans Against
the Drug War (AADW), a Dallas-based radical action group fighting to end
what they call the "tyranny of oppressive government policy."

"We want people who silently agree with us to see there are others" who
believe drugs should be legalized, says group spokesman Rick Day. "If this
country can handle alcohol, tobacco, pornography, wife swapping, and
homosexuality, we can certainly condone drug use among adults."

AADW, formed last year after its members quit more moderate drug
legalization groups, paid $5,000 to rent the billboard for three months.
Several companies refused to lease them space, Day said, before Eller Media,
an outdoor-advertising firm owned by media behemoth Clear Channel
Communications, accepted their ad.

The other companies, we suspect, didn't want their nice, legal drugs -- like
scotch -- associated with evil, illegal drugs such as grass. Who says
outdoor-advertising companies have no scruples? (Answer: We do.)

— Compiled from staff reports by Patrick Williams