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UN: Celebrities encouraging drug use among youth
Filed under: In The News, Alcohol & Drugs
According to the United Nations' drug control agency, parents who fear that drug-abusing celebrities are setting a bad example for our kids have good reason to be concerned. The International Narcotic Control Board says it's not the drug use alone that is at issue here, but the treatment many celebrities receive from the criminal justice system."They get more lenient responses by the judiciary and law enforcement, and that is regrettable," Professor Hamid Ghodse, a member of the INCB, says. "There should not be any difference between a celebrity who is breaking the law and non-celebrities. Not only does it give the wrong messages to young people, who are quite impressionable, but the wider public becomes cynical about the responses to drug offenders."
Fortunately, I am not all that familiar with the criminal justice system when it comes to drug offenses, but you don't have to look that hard to find some glaring examples of what appears to be preferential treatment given to drug-abusing celebrities.
When model Kate Moss was photographed snorting cocaine, most of us assumed her career was over. In the immediate aftermath, she did lose a few contracts. But when no charges were pressed, she bounced back quite nicely and seems to have more work than ever. And don't even get me started on her former boyfriend Pete Doherty. He seems to famous because he abuses drugs.
Do you agree with the U.N. that these celebrities are glamorizing drug use and that the criminal justice system is playing favorites?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-06-2008 @ 9:56AM
SKL said...Actually, I think the US society in general is very tolerant about drugs. Remember DC mayor Marion Barry, caught on camera buying the stuff, going to jail, and getting re-elected anyway? Clinton and his "but I didn't inhale" and now Obama with his "I did inhale, so what"? ParentDish bloggers and like-thinking people who will say I did it, everyone does it, there's no way to prevent it . . . and if there's anyone you know of who has been caught by the law being involved with drugs, how much jail time did they ever serve? The ones I know have had little to no consequences, at least until they have had many, many offenses. While I agree I'd rather my kids not see drugs mixed with success on TV, as a society, on and off the screen, we really don't treat drugs as seriously as we probably should.
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