Justin Bieber Endorses End The War On Drugs Campaign, Says Youth Have A Voice
Justin Bieber may be touring the hinterlands of Europe, but he is not too busy to support the new ‘End the War on Drugs’ campaign led by Russell Simmons.
Def Jam co-founder Simmons, wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama last week urging him to “revamp the policies of the last 30 years that have seen the prison population skyrocket.”
Yesterday, Bieber retweeted a message posted by Simmons on the social media site that read: “I’m going to always keep encouraging people to move in the right direction.”
The singer followed that up with another endorsement that encouraged his 37 plus million followers — well, the active ones — to also support the campaign.
The 19-year-old wrote:
“shoutout to @UncleRush. gotta support him to #EndTheWarOnDrugs and show that we the youth have a voice. hashtag and support the cause.”
Bieber’s tweet has now been passed through Twitter thousands of times by his young fans, though it’s likely many of them won’t fully understand some of the issues involved in Simmons’ campaign.
The letter has also been co-signed by an array of Hollywood stars.
shoutout to @unclerush. gotta support him to #EndTheWarOnDrugs and show that we the youth have a voice. hashtag and support the cause
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) April 9, 2013
They include, Will Smith, Scarlett Johansson, Woody Harrelson, Eva Longoria, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Jim Carrey, Mark Wahlberg, Kris Jenner, Kerry Washington, the three elder Kardashian sisters and more.
Some commentators have called Bieber’s support for the ‘End the War on Drugs’ campaign a PR move designed to offset the negative press he’s received during his Believe tour. Others have called the pop star’s endorsement ironical given that pictures of the singer smoking weed with best friend and rapper Lil Twist surfaced as recently as January.
The Canadian used his hosting stint as Saturday Night Live host in February to apologize to his fans for that indiscretion. But it is possible Bieber has reflected on his drug usage and is now trying to do effect a positive change with his social media reach, in which case his endorsement isn’t such an irony after all.
Simmons certainly seemed grateful for the “Boyfriend” singer’s shout out as he posted this message on Twitter yesterday.
Thank u @justinbieber for ur support to #EndTheWarOnDrugs!You are right, the youth do have a voice and you are leading the way! #Beliebers
— Russell Simmons (@UncleRUSH) April 9, 2013
[Image via Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]
