The liberal site Slate was delighted with a new video message about the "war on drugs" produced by Green Point Creative for an an advocacy group called the Drug Policy Alliance. It’s not the same classic anti-drug message she famously delivered back in the ’90s, though she’s still got her frying pan and some eggs. But now it's about how the brown eggs get smashed by drug laws, not the white eggs. Get it?
COOK: This [white egg] is one of the millions of Americans who uses drugs and won’t get arrested. However, this American [brown egg] is several times more likely to be charged with a drug crime. Imagine it’s you.
This is the day you get caught. This is your day in court. This is your sentencing. This is your cell. This is your first day on the outside. This is your fresh start… WAS your fresh start. [Has check box as a felon.] Here are your job prospects. [Eggs crushed!]
This is your chance at a college degree…or not [financial aid denied]. This is your family. This is your debt collector. These are the dreams you have your children! [Eggs crushed!]
This is someone else’s family. Someone else’s life. Someone who used drugs, but was never caught. This is how you FEEL! [Eggs crushed!]
The war on drugs is ruining people’s lives. It fuels mass incarceration. It targets people of color in greater numbers than their white counterparts. It cripples communities. It costs billions. And it doesn’t work. Any questions?
Earth to actress: are we trying to suggest the "brown eggs" don't get smashed in gang wars over drug turf? If we legalized all the drugs -- "the decriminalization of responsible drug use" -- there would be no addiction, and no crime?
In 2006, the Drug Policy Alliance signed up retired liberal anchorman Walter Cronkite for a fundraising letter that also appeared on The Huffington Post. Cronkite wrote: "Today, our nation is fighting two wars: one abroad and one at home. While the war in Iraq is in the headlines, the other war is still being fought on our own streets. Its casualties are the wasted lives of our own citizens. I am speaking of the war on drugs. And I cannot help but wonder how many more lives, and how much more money, will be wasted before another Robert McNamara admits what is plain for all to see: the war on drugs is a failure.".
