From a young age, we are taught that drugs are bad. We are more or less forced to promise to never touch the forbidden fruit, to “just say no.”
Of course, most drugs run the risk of abuse. No one is contesting that. But despite what the extremists of the Above the Influence advertising campaign say, marijuana is not one of them.
The obviously biased campaign focuses on the harms of smoking marijuana yet says nothing of its benefits.
Above the Influence is funded by the government as a part of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. According to the Above the Influence’s horribly condescending mission statement, they’re “not telling you how to live your life.”
Maybe, maybe not, but they are definitely making those who smoke marijuana out to be the bad guys, the losers, the unmotivated. Way to be an objective, informative campaign, guys.
If we are to believe this campaign, once you start smoking, you begin an inevitable downward spiral. You’ll drop out of school, quit your job and stop playing with your dog. I’m sure there are people who have done such, but to say that the majority of pot smokers do so is wildly exaggerating.
The public service announcements that Above the Influence are responsible for range from a stoner melting into a couch, running over a little girl and involuntarily having his head shaved. That’s more than a bit ridiculous.
Above the Influence and other anti-marijuana campaigns claim that smoking marijuana will make the smoker do poorly in school but only if he or she actually stays in school. Basically, they say it will make you stupid.
To make such wide claims and generalizations leaves a lot of room for mistakes and exceptions. Comedian Doug Benson of VH1 fame made a documentary earlier this year called “Super High Me,” which, as you may guess, is a marijuana take on the film “Super Size Me.” Benson smokes weed for 30 days straight, from the time he wakes until the time he goes to bed. But to fully clear his system and to compare the effects, before the 30 days of nonstop smoking, Benson stops smoking for 30 days.
He takes tests to measure the effects and finds that marijuana is not as bad as it is made out to be. During the non-smoking month, Benson takes the SAT and scores a 980 out of 1600. When he takes the test high, although a bit less enthused to take the test, he scores 1030.
Benson’s doctor also says that, after 17 years of smoking weed, Benson has suffered no permanent damage. I wonder what Above the Influence would have to say about that. Obviously, this is just one man’s experience, but the evidence is more than enough that it should make one reconsider what he or she has been told about the “harmful” effects of marijuana.
These PSAs also, of course, fail to mention the benefits of marijuana. It reduces pain, nausea, anxiety, and depression. Whether legally obtained or not, marijuana can help with these problems.
Many people have already benefited from medicinal marijuana, but what about those who don’t live in a “green” state? They can, however illegally, still benefit from marijuana’s effects.
Above the Influence makes the generalization that all people who smoke are lazy low-life types. Some may be but not all of them especially those who use it for health reasons.
Above the Influence does nothing to help the war on drugs, which mostly just makes criminals out of otherwise law-abiding individuals. The PSAs should focus on what is actually harmful.
Marijuana is a victimless crime, and with so much focus on it, more serious drugs are flying under the radar. Government officials are wasting time locking up legitimate dispensaries and small-scale drug dealers, when they could be busting meth labs. I’m not saying they don’t do what they can to take down the harder drugs, but the time spent enforcing marijuana laws could be so much better spent. As could the tax dollars spent keeping these “criminals” in jail.
If someone wants to smoke a bowl in the privacy of their own home, they should be allowed to so.
Marijuana affects different people differently and should not be generalized as a bad thing. Sure, for some people, it’s just for fun. But for others, it genuinely helps them get through the day. And Above the Influence should not be passing judgment or teaching others to pass judgment on those who choose to use marijuana.