What's disturbing about this headline?

In this morning's paper (a free one they give out at the tube stations), this is the headline I saw:

A LINE OF COCAINE IS CHEAPER THAN A PINT OF BEER NOW THAT THE ALCOHOL TAX RISES TOOK EFFECT YESTERDAY

And they had a photo of someone doing a line.

Now, I guess someone can interperet that in two ways:

Hurray! Call the dealer, we can save some money!!

or

Holy crap. Is Class A drug-use viewed the same as a night out drinking some beer?


Reading further, I had quite the dose of education: apparently, having a hit of heroin or a tab of ecstacy is around the same price as a pint, with cigarettes topping the list as the most expensive.

Hmm.

I understand that Hollywood tends to just swim around in pools of drugs and everyone turns a blind eye, and the last video of Heath Ledger at a party shows him smoking a joint next to someone hoovering up a line, but when did it become so common that it's de rigeur to have these drugs on offer at a random party? Has it always been like this? In the UK, I've seen pictures of celebrities blatantly holding small square packets, and people put it on the gossip pages saying "ooh, that cheeky so-and-so, wonder what he's up to...?"

I'm not judging anyone for doing what floats their boat, to each his own. And all of us have been to college, it's not like we've never heard of this stuff. But to have it covered in the media so much, what kind of example does this send to teenagers who read about these cool people? Personally, the amount of times I've heard drugs talked about and photographed here in the UK, I might as well be living in Amsterdam. I'm not saying that any celebrity should be a role model, but nevertheless, they're doing something really private very publicly, and kids are watching them. And after a while, they'll be numb to all of it. People do justify it and say "well, it's just like getting drunk, that's a drug too", and I guess you could say that Sex and the City was like that with casual sex, and with Samantha taking hits of ecstacy or viagra, and maybe that's just as bad. I don't know.

Funny thing is, I'm not even a parent. I will be someday, and I guess it worries me a bit about how quickly kids will have to grow up in the generations to come. It feels like they'll be confronted with all of this a lot sooner than I was, and it feels like a lot more pressure. As for me and this issue, I just get tired of seeing it all the time, and hearing about it from people who do it just to show everyone that they're very cool, very rock and roll. It's as if it's a hobby that everyone wants to do and they talk about it like it's as normal as saying "Hey, I am totally addicted to making ceramic bowls! Let's make some together! Everyone should get into this!" Whatever.

If it makes you feel fun and happy and cool, great. But try and keep it out of the spotlight, because you may be making a very big impression on someone (and not in a good way).

Okay, okay, I'm off my soapbox.