Bait and switch, like verbal slight-of-hand is one of the primary tools of politics and advertising… you should already be scared. It’s a sad state of affairs, and anymore it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys ’cause they all play the same game by the same rules; coercion as needed to meet the party line.
So, today I came across a link to an info-visual about the upsides of legalizing marijuana [sloshspot.com]. Nice, nice, I totally agree that we need to rethink the whole marijuana is illegal thing and I’m on the “Amsterdam model” side of the debate, though I want to see more debate before I make up my mind. But wait… what is this uncouth bait and switch with the statistics:
All the information on the info-visual references statistics that are marijuana specific… except the statistics in big ass green used to shock people… That $14.1 billion says Will be spent to reduce drug use and availability in 2009
, (emphasis mine). But drug use implies more than just marijuana. This is the kind of dishonest behavior that makes me not like people in politics (and advertising) regardless of if I agree with their stance or ideas (or like their products.)
And let’s not mention that you can make statistics say anything you want, so this kind of cheating should be unnecessary. And always remember that 63% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Finally as a complete aside… I know some of the people that would be contributing to that $20 million for Virginia! You know who you are! “Puff puff, give. Puff puff, give. You fuckin’ up the rotation!”