Such is the ubiquity of advertising that one barely notices the amount of space dedicated to selling us consumables any more. Which is probably the reason why I was so struck by a poster outside UCLH on Monday morning, an advert that was selling me an idea, not a product, and from a organization that I had never heard of; the Foundation for a Drug-Free World. My first thoughts were “religious group” and a brief glance at their website confirms that Scientologists are heavily involved, although, the jury is still out on whether they do actually qualify as a religion. It’s either that or the most elaborate pyramid scam in history. What makes FDFW different from most “just say no” moralizers is that it’s not only recreational drugs that they want to get rid of. Oh no. These are Scientologists remember, and they’re against prescription drugs too. The website itself is actually quite banal, and assumes that readers will be put off from trying MDMA once they discover that one of the side effects is “confusion”. There is much worry about young people ruining their lives not handing in their homework on time, and an emphasis on “saving lives” - won’t somebody please think of the children! Does drug use kill more young people than car/traffic accidents? More than land mines? Let’s have some perspective, please.

Abstinence equals purity equals goodness. This is the message. Let’s all be nice and clean and free of sin. Let’s never ever get cancer or suffer from paranoia or depression or bronchitis because we, the organized abstainers, the authority on lifestyle choice, have said no to drugs. We have chosen the correct way to live and therefore will deserve never to be ill. Are any of us actually allowed to make a choice without being consulted by giant posters on our way to work?

The FDFW offer us no solid alternatives to drugs use (not even Jebus, but probably Tom Cruise) and it is simply assumed that drugs will vanish as soon as we all learn of their side-effects. The Truth! The Facts!

We’re all very savvy of the side-effects of booze and fags, but I’m pretty sure that they still exist.