DEA exhibit guide... Thoughts?

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NOTE: When I mention propaganda in this thread, I am referring not specifically to the rigid dictionary definition of information disseminated to influence opinions or behavior, but to the commonly used, although technically innaccurate, negative connotation, namely the dissemination of false or deliberately misleading information to effect the adoption of an idea or behavior, mainly through the use of logical fallacies, half- or un-truths, and/or other deceptive techniques.


I've recently become obsessed with propaganda, in all its forms, and actively watch for it while researching any of my interests. I stumbled across this exhibit guide on the DEA website, and thought I would get some thoughts on the tactics used in it, and whether others even consider it propaganda at all.

Here is the brochure, tell me what you think. It is a pdf, btw, if that matters to anyone. Please, if you are going to respond, have something supportive (read: supported) to say, whether you view it the same way as I or not.

My favorite part is the bit about viewing "the bedroom of a young teen that has accessed a website that sells illegal drugs."

Well I have been to Peru and aware of how it affects the live of the villagers connected to jungle labs. It does affect them no doubt. The chemical they use to extract the drug are more dangerous than the drug itself. They have no protective clothing/gear. However their brutal live is mostly down to the fact that there is an illegal market for it. The criminals rely on this.

The leaf that cocaine is made out of has been used as traditional medicine for many centuries. I have drunk the tea my self when I had altitude sickness.

Um... propaganda need not be in any way false or misleading, it just has a negative connotation.

Anyways, the brochure is quite misleading, as it includes the cost of the "War on Drugs" as one of the costs of drug use, which is then used as justification for more expansive enforcement. It also ignores the fact that most of the problems they are ascribing to drugs are not due simply to drugs but to current laws about drugs.

Thanks for posting your thoughts!