The late, great Bill Hicks once remarked upon hearing an assessment that the US was losing the war on drugs that (and I paraphrase) it meant a war was being fought and the people on drugs were winning. Sardonically amusing as that observation might be, I have a feeling that the war on drugs has most certainly been lost - and perhaps in a fashion that is far less dramatic than most people would think.

When the war on drugs began in the '80s, we were treated to PSAs advising us to "just say no" and the consequences if we didn't were niftily illustrated through the use of a frying pan and egg as a visual aid. The primary target in this battle was marijuana.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I admit that I enjoy going out for drinks from time to time - sometimes overdoing it - and I have inhaled on a few occasions. I have also watched several people close to me battle addiction, so I have a very healthy respect for the potential perils of drug and alcohol use and a great empathy for those who are addicts.

However, I feel that we are likely creating an entire generation far more at risk of falling prey to addiction than a thousand Woodstocks ever could. The reason is that it is completely impossible to watch more than an hour of television without being bombarded by pharmaceutical solutions to maladies that lead me to wonder if the drug companies have an entire division devoted to nothing more than creating them.

The reason I find this situation so insidious is that while warning children about drug use, they are being shown an endless array of examples where it is encouraged and acceptable to turn to a pill to cure what ails them. Day by day, it becomes more the norm with little thought to the consequences. Is there really a significant portion of the population that is suffering from dry eyes? And perhaps this plague of erectile dysfunction sufferers might find relief through lifestyle changes (i.e. exercise, better diet) rather than needing to resort to the pill du jour.

Yes, I acknowledge that there are people that legitimately suffer from ailments and legitimately may find comfort and an increase in their quality of life from some wonderful advancements in science and medicine. However, it seems quite certain that there is far too cozy a relationship between those who produce these products and those who prescribe them (seemingly like candy) and the relationship comes down to money.

I have no idea what the solution is, but I do know that there are children watching these commercials. Isn't it quite conceivable that these children are being sent a message that pills are the quick fix to everything? The children who are five, six, ten years old now are the teens of a decade from now.

If people thought drug use was a problem in the '80s or '90s, what will the landscape look like ten years from now? Personally, I fear that the seeds are being sown now for a major epidemic of misery in the future and too few people even realize it's happening.