EDITORIAL/ MCCAFFREY, STILL SMOKING.BIG Brother is not just a TV show. If U.S. drug czar The term Drug Czar is an informal title that can mean: United States Between 1973 and 1988, several ad hoc executive positions were established that the press termed "Drug Czar". Gen. Barry McCaffrey Barry Richard McCaffrey (b. November 17 1942, Taunton, Massachusetts) is a retired United States Army General. He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at the United States Military Academy, where he had been the Bradley Professor of International Security Studies from 2001 to has his way, it will be all of Hollywood. Speaking before a congressional committee on Tuesday, he outlined plans to sneak government anti-drug messages into motion pictures. That follows three years of slipping similar suggestions into TV shows. Under federal law, broadcasters must sell air time for government anti-drug ads at half price. McCaffrey created a windfall windfall An unexpected profit or gain. An investor holding a stock that increases greatly in price because of an unexpected takeover offer receives a windfall. for the networks - and got Washington into the programming business - by freeing TV stations of this obligation. All they had to do was feature ``accurate portrayals of drug-use issues'' in their shows. Now McCaffrey proposes federally funded publicity for films that meet Washington's approval. Advertising in entertainment in nothing new. The WB's new teen drama A teen drama is a television drama series that centers on teenage characters. The genre is relatively new, first appearing in the late 1980s. The shows are usually serial, starting when the characters are well into their teenage years (usually between 13 to 19 years of age) and if , ``Young Americans,'' is the latest case in point, with stars grabbing for cans of Coca-Cola at every poignant moment. But with product placement, viewers can see an ad for what it is, and competitors are free to promote their product by bidding for the spots. The government, on the other hand, has no competitors, and with the regulatory and spending powers The power of legislatures to tax and spend. Spending power is conferred to state and federal legislatures through their constitution. Judicial Review of legislative spending varies from state to state, but the law of federal spending informs courts in all states. at its disposal, it could chill dissenting viewpoints in entertainment. Under McCaffrey's plan, would a movie that featured a cancer patient using medicinal marijuana marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. , which McCaffrey opposes, be deemed ``accurate''? What if the film were anti-drug but also rude or offensive? ``Accurate'' really means government-sanctioned, and when Big Brother starts to direct its money and regulations at Hollywood, only government-sanctioned messages will find their way to the big screen. Drugs are bad, but so is censorship. Keep the media and state separate. |
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