The Head of the Group That Gave Us “This Is Your Brain on Drugs” Thinks Legalized Marijuana Is “Happening in America”

Here’s one for everyone who grew up watching the
Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s over-the-top anti-drug
ads: Pot legalization is “happening in America.” That’s not me
talking; it’s the head of the Partnership at Drugfree.org, as the
organization is now known. And no, he isn’t saying it to rally the
troops against legalization. He’s
telling Advertising Age that he wants to
focus on convincing people not to use marijuana, not on
convincing people to ban it:

Ever since Colorado and Washington state voters legalized
recreational marijuana use, Partnership at Drugfree.org has been
lobbied to run ads criticizing the decision. But that’s the last
thing the group wants to do. “A public-service ad that says: ‘By
the way, voters of Colorado, you don’t know what you are doing.’
Come on,” said Steve Pasierb, the partnership’s CEO. Pot
legalization is “happening in America,” he added.

The Partnership is taking a practical approach in Colorado and
Washington with an educational PR effort. In July the group hosted
a panel discussion in Denver to discuss what pot legalization will
mean for kids. Parents have a “critical role to play to ensure that
the readily available marijuana in these states do not result in
higher levels of use by…their children and young teens,” the
group said in August.

The Partnership
doesn’t support legalization. But it seems to have concluded
that in Colorado and Washington—maybe everywhere, depending on how
you take the phrase “in America”—it’s futile to try to reverse the
tide. Anytime a crusader opts for persuasion over coercion, that’s
a reason to be happy.

As for the quality of that persuasion…well, I
wouldn’t say the Partnership has a great track record. But for
nostalgia’s sake, here’s a compilation of the group’s early
PSAs.