In 1998 actor Rachael Lee Cook starred in the “This is your brain on heroin” PSA, smashing up a kitchen with a frying pan:
Nearly 20 year later, Cook is back in the kitchen, frying pan in hand. But her concluding message is different:
“The Drug War is ruining people’s lives. It fuels mass incarceration, preying on people of color in greater numbers than their white counterparts. It cripples communities, costs billions and it doesn’t work… Any questions?”
Cook says, “Ava DuVernay’s 13th [a documentary that explores the “intersection of race, justice and mass incarceration in the United States”] was a complete revelation for me. The shocking, cold water education her documentary presented compelled me to reexamine my own involvement with a larger movement that has gone on to harm so many. When my unique position brought about the opportunity to raise my voice again about this issue, I knew it was the right thing to do. My hope now is to bring attention to the wildly unfair practices of drug sentencing and advocate for their reform.”
The new PSA was created in partnership with Green Point Creative and the Drug Policy Alliance. It was directed by Ryan Kleier from Motiv Creative.
Here’s the moronic ad that started it all:
And here’s the Drug Policy Alliance’s Tony Papa and how the Rockefeller Drug Laws affected his life:
