Word Choices: Politically Incorrect Drugs

Published August 15, 2012 in News by Sharon Harris

Most people hate the idea of being told to conform to some arbitrary social or political standard of “political correctness.”

That’s why the term “politically incorrect” has become so extremely popular, and why it generates such a positive reaction among both conservatives and liberals.

Examples of conservatives using the term in a positive way are the "Politically Incorrect Guide To…" series of books published by conservative Regnery Publishing.

An example of a liberal-left positive use of the term is Bill Maher’s "Politically Incorrect "TV show.

There are, of course, endless other examples.

The popularity of this phrase -- and the idea behind it -- offers us a great term that can be useful in discussing the drug issue: "politically incorrect drugs."

You might say something like: “Millions of people are arrested every year for doing nothing more than using politically incorrect drugs.”

Or: “A better term for the War on Drugs might be... the War Against Politically Incorrect Drugs.”

The point, of course, is that there are some legal drugs that are approved of, and used by, many pro-Drug War political figures and opinion leaders -- despite some of actually being more dangerous than many illegal drugs. Obvious examples are alcohol and tobacco.

At the same time other drugs, some with medical uses and some less harmful than the Establishment’s favored alcohol and tobacco, are irrationally and arbitrarily made illegal. Thus they are “politically incorrect drugs.”

This catchy term can provide a mind-opening, “aha!”-inducing insight for many listeners.

Many people, including older adults who remember the political and cultural struggles of the 1960s, may suddenly see the Drug War as a war waged by people who smoke tobacco and drink alcohol against people whose only “crime” is a preference for other intoxicants.

The hypocrisy and the unfairness of this will be made obvious.

Like most word choices, this one isn’t for every audience. But it can really hit home with the right listeners -- including many conservatives and liberals.