Tim Condon, Ph.D., a Science Policy Advisor at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, guest posts at the ONDCP’s “blog.”
With so much misinformation about drugs floating around the blogosphere, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) re-launches its annual NIDA Goes Back to School Initiative (NGBS). This initiative focuses on science-based drug education materials for teachers, parents, and students at all grade levels. […]
Although we can’t be looking over our kids shoulders all day at school, we can help ensure that when confronted with decision about drugs that the facts they get in front of them about drugs are credible, accurate and science-based. [emphasis original]
Well, as one of the premiere drug policy bloggers out there, I’ll be happy to take that “blogosphere” crack personally. The ironic part, of course, is that Condon is posting at a so-called “blog” that is at the nexus of scientific misinformation on drugs in the whole world.
The government drug policy apparatus in general, and ONDCP in particular, have treated science as though it were silly putty — molding it and shaping it to fit pre-determined policy decisions, and hoping the public won’t see that everything is printed backward.
After all, it is the owner of this blog that has forced the owner of the ONDCP blog to retract a misuse of scientific data.
It’s also mildly interesting that Timothy Condon apparently moved from NIDA to the ONDCP last month to be their science policy advisor. Interesting that this bit of information was left out of the post, and that Condon, supposedly promoting science-based information is now working for the top propaganda agency around. If Timothy Condon would be willing to stop by, I’d love to hear just exactly what a “science policy advisor” does when he’s working for a propaganda generator.
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Kerli was busy on the border at the Border Security Conference this weekend and as usual,his contribution towards ending the violence is to continue the violence.
He self righteously denounced the corruption in Mexico while failing to realize that when he spreads false science and lies in an attempt to scare young people in our schools,he is corruption in spades.
This would sure be a stretch for the ONDCP. Science-based? Where’d they ever get that silly idea. It goes against their grain. Condon is just a “fluffer.”
I expect ONDCP to bring out hi-tech Ouija Boards and remote-controlled table-thumpers any day now. Such would be no better sources of scientific information that those they’ve chosen to use in the past.
In an aside, as an ersatz historian, I’d always been fascinated by the kind of human behavior demonstrated by people serving organizations whose sole purpose is mendacity.
To say such behavior is schizophrenic is to engage in understatement. It must be beyond bizarre to have to be paid to lie, day in and day out, sometimes for years, while knowing in the back of your mind that you are, indeed, a liar. At some point the cognitive dissonance must become excruciating…if they possess even a shred of decency.
He probably smokes pot to deal with it.
@claygooding ;>) The higher-ups are probably exempt from drug testing.
Well,it isn’t like he doesn’t know where any is. Dang what a job. And probably about $100 grand a year.
And we help pay it.
“NIDA Goes Back to School Initiative (NGBS)?
No doubt about it. The NIDA should go back to school to learn what science really is.
Currently, the NIDA seems to conceive of drug science as some kind of social engineering project where the chief objective is to make all illicit drugs look as bad as possible, while ignoring any potential benefits. Real science operates with the idea that all interconnected information is potentially useful in leading to additional useful information, and therefore it’s necessary to know it all.
A question remains as to where the NIDA and ONDCP will obtain their science. They rarely get any qualified science information from the hacks and quacks they often employ. It’s doubtful these agencies will ever recognize the excellent research being done on illicit drugs overseas, since prohibitionist culture apparently precludes paying any attention to “them thar foreigners.â€
Ultimately, the best sources of information are the primary sources. The best arena to have a neutral playing ground to get the truth out through primary sources on drug information is the blogosphere, specifically sites such as Drug WarRant.
It’s understandable that prohibitionists who are indifferent to the truth are absolutely terrified of a platform that makes unfettered drug information available to the public, or to school children in this case. The prohibitionists have admittedly lost control of the public dialogue because of it, which is why Tim Condon is talking about it getting it back.
Is NIDA like the ONDCP? That is are they required by law to lie?
My spell checker doesn’t recognize NIDA or ONDCP. It does understand other acronyms. Though to be fair it didn’t recognize misdemeanant as a correctly spelled word earlier today.
NIDA is a little more responsible than the ONDCP. A little. It stands for the National Institute on Drug Abuse, so it already has a bias. It was their funding that paid for the study that showed that marijuana doesn’t cause head, neck, or lung cancer. It was a bit embarrassing for them, because they were hoping it would show something different.
They generally will only fund studies that are intended to show negative aspects of drugs.
The information they provide is at least a little more likely to be true than the ONDCP, but it’s still going to be skewed (and often cherry-picked) to focus on the dangers of drugs, ignore any positive results about drugs and be tone-deaf about such things as legalization.
Isn’t our Government amazing?
They totally screw something up, then spew blame in every direction but their own. Any honest attempt to pin the charges on the actual perpetrator of the harm (our Government) is quickly and harshly buried under an avalanche of Government CYA – but always disguised as “National Security” so the people will go along.
Like Iraq – totally screwed up, and the only people in the entire world who aren’t to blame are the politicians and militaristic types who created the whole thing. They get a pass, because they decide who gets a pass.
Now they are trying the same thing with the War on Drugs. Government started it, Government funds it, Government controls it, Government pays lip service to it (propaganda), Government benefits from the powers and proceeds of it, but the reason the War on Drugs is a failure is…. somebody else’s fault, but our Government is looking into that.
Our Government = The Terrorists.
If you go to the ONDCP web page and look at ONDCP budget,NIDA gets funds from ONDCP. They are the ONDCP’s go to research agency.
Next NIDA and ONDCP will be accusing the reformers of blatant fear mongering.
I have sent a third request too the government accounting office for the amount of tax dollars spent by NIDA researching and funding studies on cannabis since their inception.
The first time I asked them for it they sent me the web page for NIDA’s budget. No response at all on the second request where I made sure that they knew I did not want their budget but just the amount of tax dollars they spent procuring studies and the testing of cannabis.
In this 3rd request I asked them if I need to have an attorney to get the information and to please inform me if I did. That was sent today and the first response only took 4 days to receive the web page budget response.
The last time NIDA did anything approaching responsible research on illicit drugs, they commissioned this: Themes in Chemical Prohibition by William L. White from: Drugs in Perspective, National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1979
In it, Mr. White detailed the sociological aspects of drug prohibition, and his words are as true today as when they were written.
This was about the last bit of sanity that NIDA demonstrated before the Reagan Administration ramp-up of the Nixon phase of the century-long DrugWar. After that, NIDA engaged in rampant Lysenkoism, as practiced by such ‘worthies’ as Adam Leshner and Nora Volkow. (Volkow, being a relative of Trotsky, ought to know about Lysenkoism…and ought to know better than to try to apply it.) A situation that maintains to this day.