It’s no big deal

There was a nice little moment during the Academy Awards last night. Host Ellen Degeneres was doing a little comedy bit involving vacuuming the carpet in front of the audience (and making the celebrities lift their feet and dresses) when she “happened upon” an object on the floor. (I’m paraphrasing from memory here)

What’s this? Rolling papers?
Wonder who these belong to?
Ahh — must be the band.

And she tossed them down into the orchestra pit.
The bit got a nice comfortable laugh from the audience. It was a simple throw-away moment that said “It’s funny, but it’s no big deal — and of course, the band would be smoking pot. Who wouldn’t find that… normal?”
So why am I blogging this? Because it’s one little piece of tangible evidence that the constant propaganda attempts by the ONDCP to demonize marijuana and marijuana users are simply not working. People know. It’s no big deal. (And Ellen’s bit was on one of the most widely watched television shows in the world.)
Now the drug czar would probably point to this as proof that Hollywood glamorizes drug use, but that’s not it. It’s simply that Hollywood, along with much of America, is not buying the all the propaganda.
And remember Tucker Carlson’s recent take-down of Souder?

Carlson: Yeah. OK. I’m not endorsing drugs, but I know a lot of casual marijuana users, so, that’s wrong.

There are too many of us telling the truth out there. Propaganda will sway some, and that’s unfortunate, but most of America does not believe that a pack of rolling papers endangers civilization.