Zendaya Counters Criticisms That Euphoria Glamorizes Drug Use and Addiction to Teens

Emmy award winner Zendaya has finally responded to the comments from D.A.R.E claiming that her show Euphoria, “chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use.”

D.A.R.E shared a statement to TMZ saying: “Rather than further each parent’s desire to keep their children safe from the potentially horrific consequences of drug abuse and other high-risk behavior, HBO’s television drama, Euphoria, chooses to misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use, addiction, anonymous sex, violence, and other destructive behaviors as common and widespread in today’s world.”

As an organization, D.A.R.E, which formed in the 80s as part of the war on drugs (the acronym stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a failure. It was co-started by former Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Daryl Gates, who was part of making the LAPD more aggressive, paramilitary, and discriminatory towards Black and Latino communities.

Gates was one of the people blamed during the aftermath of the beating of Rodney King for creating an environment that allowed such activities to happen.

D.A.R.E’s scaremongering did not have the intended impact they wanted and instead often had the opposite effect, because of their lies and exaggerations about drugs like weed. They claimed that weed “has no medical value, weakens the immune system, and causes insanity and lung disease,” all facts that are wildly disputed by health experts.

So not the best at what they do.

Still, Zendaya gave a rebuttal on Entertainment Weekly.

“Our show is in no way a moral tale to teach people how to live their life or what they should be doing,” Zendaya said. “If anything, the feeling behind Euphoria, or whatever we have always been trying to do with it, is to hopefully help people feel a little bit less alone in their experience and their pain. And maybe feel like they’re not the only one going through or dealing with what they’re dealing with.”

As someone who has loved an addict, nothing about Euphoria glamorizes the experience and pain of living with addiction. It shows the highs and lows, with the lows being painful implosions of everyone you know and love. We watched Rue break a door, scream and belittle her loved ones, and almost die.

What about that is glamorous?

Creator Sam Levinson is a recovering addict and very open about that. He is crafting Rue in a way that is meant to create empathy, but that isn’t the same as glorifying addiction. Euphoria is not perfect, but I’ve seen people say it makes them second-guess taking an Advil, much less encourage them to take harder drugs.

Proving once again D.A.R.E doesn’t know how to reach the “teens” they claim they want to save.

(via Yahoo, image: HBO)