That's basically how Calvina Fay threatened SSDP's Aaron Houston during a debate regarding D.C.'s recently approved medical marijuana legislation on Russia Today. Watch the whole debate above.
For those of you unfamiliar with this drug warrior, Calvina Fay is the founder and executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation.
Aaron really pushes Fay's buttons when he brings up Straight, Inc (incorrectly identified as "Scared Straight" during the debate), a non-profit drug rehab center that tortured children and teenagers for months and years at a time. Even former executive staff members have apologized for Straight's actions and admitted to many forms of abuse including brainwashing, sexual abuse, food and sleep deprivation, coerced confessions and denial of medical care.
Straight, Inc. received hundreds of reports of abuse during it's existence and some facilities were shut down but Straight never really went away because it's founder also "founded" another organization, Drug Free America Foundation. Really, all they did was change the name and even though Ms. Fay just threatened to sue SSDP and stated firmly that her organization has no ties with Straight, Inc., the DFAF website says different right in the bio of the organization's founder, Betty Sembler:
Betty S. Sembler has dedicated the past three decades to fighting the war on drugs. In 1976, she was one of ten founding members of Straight, Inc., a nonprofit drug treatment program that successfully treated more than 12,000 young people with drug addiction in eight cities nationally from Dallas to Boston.
Not only does the DFAF's website admit to being involved with Straight, Inc., they are touting the connection and the program as a positive credential. Unbelievable.
I could get into all the horror stories and court cases and research that has been done on Straight and DFAF, their connections to the Bush family and Florida politics (Jeb Bush even created a Betty Sembler Day in FL) but I'm not up for reading more about such vile people before going to bed.
Having worked in a residential treatment facility with teens (thankfully nothing like Straight, Inc.), I realize how incredibly dangerous people like Calvina Fay are to young people all around the world.
When it comes to the issue of drugs and youth, prohibitionists like her can come off as a voice of reason to concerned parents - mostly because they represent a group with a nice sounding name pretending they can achieve the completely impossible goal of a drug free America. She has even served as an advisor to the Office of National Drug Control Policy despite having no background in public health or drug policy; she has a masters in business administration.
