Propaganda, Stereotypes, and the War on Drugs Essay -- Media Stereotyp

Propaganda, Stereotypes, and the War on DrugsThe West has constantly been fighting the utilise of extralegal drugs for decades by Propaganda. Propaganda is a form of manipulative communication designed to elicit some predetermined response (Inge, 1981, 322). Governments have been using some(prenominal) propagandistic methods to reduce the consumption of illegal drugs such(prenominal) as marginalization or creating stereotypes. By creating a certain stereotype for the drug users and dealers, governments cerebrate that people would try to avoid drugs so they wont fitting the stereotype. Extensive researche has been per organize on this issue and there was no support that this propaganda manoeuvre made a significant difference in the use of illegal drugs.To understand the reason behind the anti-drug movement and the development of stereotypes, one should survive the history of the prohibition of certain drugs. One of the first drugs that were prohibited was Opium. This was pr otrude-of-pocket to the large amount of Chinese immigrants which implementd opium. Powerful labor unions such as the American Federation of labor feared competition from Chinese laborers who were quite strenuous working and generally willing to work for lower wages. Labor leaders vilified the Chinese as opium-crazed fiends who preyed sexually upon young white girls (Preston, 2001). Since then individuals who consume opiates carried the stereotype of being rapists and evil-doers. In the early twentieth century, minority groups such as African-Americans and Mexican-Americans consumed marijuana. One of the main reasons marijuana was prohibited was to drive Mexican-Americans out of the United States and back to Mexico (Blum, 1997).To create prejudice against Mexican-Americans, a stereotype was formed which... ...ertysoft.com/liberty/reviews/60bradford.html, consulted on manifest 30th, 2004.FITZPATRICK, Michael (2001). The Lessons of the Drugs War, Spiked,. Online at , consulted on M arch 30th, 2004.INCIARDI, James A. (1992). The War on Drugs II The Continuing Epic of Heroin, Cocaine, Crack, Crime, Aids, and familiar Policy. Toronto Mayfield Publishing Company.INGE, M. Thomas (1981). A Handbook of American Popular Culture, Vol.3. computed tomography Greenwood Press. MacCOUN, Robert J. and Reuter, Peter (2001). Drug War Heresies. Cambridge University Press.PRESTON, Keith (2001). The Political Economy of the War on Drugs, Free Republic,. Online at , March 30th, 2004.SOLOMON, David (1968). The Marihuana Papers, 4th Ed. The New American Library, Inc.