Your Dose of Pop is DPA’s contribution to a balanced media diet. We generally disseminate serious news about the serious disaster that is the drug war. However, a good deal of public opinion is shaped by the happenings in entertainment and culture, which makes them worth commenting on. Story ideas are always welcome. You can submit them mfranqui [at] drugpolicy [dot] org (here).
Here’s the latest skinny.
El Chapo: Memes and Tweets
There’s nothing funny about the escape of one of the world’s most notoriously violent drug traffickers. On the contrary, the Sinaloa cartel mastermind, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as “El Chapo”, has escaped again from a maximum security prison in Central Mexico and dealt another stealthy blow to Mexican officials’ failed drug strategies.
More on the severity and futility of focusing on one cartel head and continuing drug prohibition is described here by my colleague when El Chapo was captured last year after his first escape (via laundry basket)and eluded authorities for over a decade.
Details are still emerging and the worldwide man-hunt is ongoing, but there are poignant jabs on drug war corruption, weird tweets and folksongs, or narco-corridos, making their rounds on the internet. Here are my two favorite.
Apparently, the mile-long tunnel El Chapo escaped through was at least 5 ft. high and equipped with lighting and ventilation. In other words, there is no way this thing could have been built without setting off alarms, or as the web highlighted the pervasive corruption:
Additionally, El Chapo has been seemingly taunting authorities after escape by tweeting from a suspect Twitter account whilst on the lam. Even more bizarre, is the tweet that went out to presidential hopeful Donald Trump, whose recent vile and racist rants about Mexican immigrants has drawn the ire of El Chapo himself, or some think so. In any case, Trump beefed up security and alerted FBI officials, but the best response thus far was this tweet.
Susan Sarandon Wants to 420 A$ap
In other twitter phenomena this week, beloved Thelma & Louise actress Susan Sarandon, who is also a well-known marijuana enthusiast and advocate, asked to “blaze one” with A$AP Rocky and Action Bronson.
Just getting hip to 2013’s “1 Train,” Susan was flattered by the lyrics: “I fixed the game between Georgia Southern and Grambling/You see us scrambling, selling Susan Sarandon/The cloud of smoke like the phantom/Damn this shit tastes like fantastic.” Delighted but unsure what they mean and wanting to know more, she tweeted this:
Hey @asvpxrocky & @ActionBronson thx for the shout out on “1Train.” Not sure what it means, but let’s blaze one & talk about it some time.
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) July 14, 2015
Let’s hope they get together soon and hash out any confusion.
Grateful Dead: Fares Thee Well with Advocacy
Earlier this month the original living members of the Grateful Dead celebrated 50 years of music with final performances in Chicago, entitled: Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead. If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to score a ticket, then like most, you streamed, or rather, “couch toured” the shows for your last stroll down “Shakedown Street.”
The swan song shows were epic, but especially heartening was seeing DPA partner MAPS on the ground honoring the Grateful Dead community and expanding awareness for psychedelics and reform through this amazing photo project advocating for research, education and harm reduction.
“Our strong suit is what we do, and our audience.” – Jerry Garcia
Melissa Franqui is the communications coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance.
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Author: Melissa Franqui
Date Published: July 16, 2015
Published by Drug Policy Alliance
Via:: Ddrug Policy Alliance