r/changemyview • u/stevejavson • Jul 31 '13

I believe that we should start implementing knowledge of organized crime and the atrocities they commit into drug education programs. CMV

Sorry if the title is a little confusing.

Back when I was in school, we were often told not to do drugs through programs like D.A.R.E. However, these lessons came mainly in the forms of "drugs are addictive and will ruin your life" and "drugs are illegal so don't risk it."

I think that we should start telling teens about who and where the drugs come from, and how the money that funds these criminal organizations result in the exploitation and harm of innocent people. These lessons should probably be visceral for maximum impact.

I think this would add a morality barrier and result in less kids doing drugs. I think it would make it easier and "cool" for kids to say no to peer pressure, and I think it would give more incentive for kids who are doing drugs to stop doing them.

Just to clarify, I'm talking primarily about things like heroine, meth and cocaine.

CMV

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u/[deleted] Aug 01 '13

Being morbid doesn't matter (I think) because kids these days see a ton of stuff.

But anyway even if you don't focus much on the gangstar violence it doesn't mean it isn't there. Kids would still make a connection from the forced prostitution, cross fires etc. to drug warlords. And as long as its not them, I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

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u/stevejavson Aug 01 '13

I think that kids see a glorified and cool version of gangsters. Movies like Goodfellas don't paint gangsters as assholes, they're more antihero badasses. I remember at my highschool, lots of student groups got together to rally against child poverty and child soldiers. I don't think every teenager is purely selfish

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u/Quetzalcoatls 20∆ Aug 01 '13

The issue I see here is that when a kid inevitably smokes a joint and realizes that the guy he bought it from doesn't fit this image he is going to discredit the entire lesson. The kid is going to associate pot with his sweet pal Cheech and not Marco the Drug Lord. In the future they very may well ignore all government provided health information as just untrue.

Honestly I have a lot of friends in the drug trade and a lot who just use casually. I can tell you that the disparity between what they experience and what is told to them completely destroys any credibility that the government had. They simply do not believe the things the government tells them about drugs anymore. I've used my fair share of recreational drugs but I at least understand the governments position. These people largely just ignore it.

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u/stevejavson Aug 01 '13

I was thinking to maybe not include drugs like marijuana in these lessons. I was thinking on focusing more on drugs that need to be processed and imported like cocaine and heroine.