Rachael Leigh Cook, who starred in the 1997 version of the “This Is Your Brain on Drugs” ad, has returned. This 4/20 she appears in a remake of the famous spot. This time the message changes: “The War on Drugs is a War on People.”
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the anti-drug PSA, Green Point Creative has featured actress Leigh Cook in a remake. Back in 1997, it targeted heroin users and how the drug can mess up every single aspect of your life. Instead, the new video focuses on the US government’s war on drugs, and how it is destroying people’s life. The spot especially highlights the inequality –more specifically, by race– surrounding drug regulation and mass incarceration.
The new ad featuring Leigh Cook is a throwback of her previous one
Back in 1997, the ad featured Leigh Cook ranting about how heroin smashes anything that’s important to you, just like her frying pan smashes a fragile egg.
The new PSA starts, just like the original one. “This… is one of the millions of Americans who uses drugs, and won’t get arrested,” she says. Then she picks up a brown egg and continues, “However, this American is several times more likely to be charged with a drug crime. Imagine it’s you.”
She follows to narrate an animated sequence of the brown egg being arrested for smoking a joint, staying in prison, being released and having a rough time dealing with a felony drug charge. All of this while trying to apply for college, a job, or even financial aid. The white egg, on the other side, never got caught, so it has lived a free, fulfilling life.
“The Drug War is ruining people’s lives. It fuels mass incarceration, preying on people of color in greater numbers than their white counterparts. It cripples communities, costs billions and it doesn’t work… Any questions?”, she finishes saying, holding the pan dripping with the smashed brown egg.
Marijuana remains a target for the federal government, and Green Point Creative is fighting that
24 states and the District of Columbia have already legalized weed in some form. 8 states are discussing laws to allow its recreational use. However, the federal government is still classifying it as a Schedule 1 drug –drugs that are considered to have a high potential for abuse, to not being accepted for medical treatment use, or not being safe enough to be used even under medical supervision.
“Our nation’s drug war is leading us to lock up more people than ever. Those charged with a non-violent drug crime face fines and incarceration. More people are arrested for drugs than for rape, murder, and robbery combined,” the content agency Green Point said in a statement.
The ad looks forward to showing the effects of the unbalanced war on drugs the state is carrying out. It hardens people’s lives, especially on minority communities. For the agency, legalization of cannabis in the United States is key, and on their new ad, they highlight the need for a reevaluation of the nation’s drug policy.
Howard Bowler, creative director of Green Point Creative, said that it is not right that cigarettes are still not scheduled as drugs, even when they have the highest mortality rate of all drugs. Also, cocaine and prescription opioids are considered less dangerous than cannabis. Bowler insists that legislators should check the Drug Policy Alliance and revise how drug laws are applied.
Source: Rolling Stones