Problem
Find an anti-drug artifact that blows a dog whistle, draws on stereotypes, or reinforces stigmas against a particular community. You can use a DARE commercial, a clip from a movie, a newspaper article, an anti-drug pamphlet, a web page, a (police) organization, or a symbolic element
I. Think about the following in relationship to the artifact: How is identity (class, gender, race, education, addiction, etc) (mis)constructed in your artifact? What cultural myths are propagated by the script or the presentation? How did the creators lean into a pre-existing base of faulty social knowledge? How does this narrative/artifact do the work of miseducation, which has become the foundation of the continuing war on drugs? What are they assuming about pharmacology and human experience (set and setting)?
II. How do Richard DeGrandpre's and Daniel Larson's work fit into your example? Is the drug depicted currently available in another (legal/regulated) form? This module is about power (political, social, cultural, $, etc.) garnered by tricking people into believing a scary story. Focus on this phenomena. Who benefits from this artifact (who stands to make $)?
III. Consider how we might begin to undo the damage caused (or reinforced) by the artifact. Brainstorm specific strategies for educating the public in a way that does not "turn them off." Consider why these messages of fear and hate were so sticky in the first place (why did they remain unquestioned for so long); how can we overcome this?