my tax dollars are paying for THIS?!?!

Being a champion of social programs, I don't normally sweat government funding unless it is an egregious waste of money that could be used for more helpful things, with examples being the bridge to nowhere, halliburton, or the fact that the government is even considering ending net neutrality.

But i've found something that really just boiled my oats recently. As you're all aware, the government funding anti-drug campaigns is nothing new, and has been a fact of life since Nancy Reagan first told us to "Just Say No" back in the mid-80's, and school children have been fed propagandist lies and disinformation as well by the D.A.R.E. program. Well, what's got me all hot and bothered is a new series of ads created for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (also known as "Above the Influence") and is sponsored by the govnerment-funded Office of National Drug Control Policy. These ads focus on a supposed teen-fad known as "SLOMming" - where SLOM stands for Sticking Leeches On Myself. Yes, you heard me right, LEECHES. While it is well known that leeches do suck blood from their host, I can't see how you could really, truly get high from this. If you've ever had an injury that involved blood loss, or you donated blood, you are well aware of what the effects would be as compared to SLOMming - light-headedness and minor delerium. This is hardly a high comparable to getting drunk, smoking marijuana or drugs like LSD and PCP that pretty much rearrange your perception of reality into that which is incomprehensible when sober.

If teens are out there SLOMming repeatedly, i feel a sad, sad pity for them, and if this not much of a trend, I shame our government for sensationalizing something so wickedly absurd. And to the teens that are actually doing this: has the thought ever occurred to you that its not that had to find alcohol instead? (Not that i would condone underage drinking) And certainly most teens also know that mom and dad's medicine chest, when pilfered, often yields great treasure? (again, don't do this - its illegal, immoral and wrong). I ask these ridiculous questions because something must seriously be wrong for an individual to even consider the leeches at all.

Anyways, I hereby admonish uncle sam for allowing these ads to air, and am formally asking my legislators to implore the ONDCP to take them off the air.

Here is one of the ads for your viewing displeasure: