cannabisnews.com: Opinion Cannabis Issue Rehashed 










  Opinion Cannabis Issue Rehashed 

Posted by CN Staff on January 13, 2003 at 18:33:58 PT
By George Deutsch 
Source: Battalion Online 

If most parents knew there was a federally funded organization lying to their children about the effects of drug use, they would likely be appalled and seek to have the organization's funding removed. Yet the frightening truth is that such a group exists, operating under the family-friendly monicker, Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA). In its newest line of Public Service Announcements (PSAs), the group equates marijuana use with wrongful death, rape and even murder...crimes that sensible people realize marijuana usage alone would never lead to. 
Last year, the American public was misled into thinking that every joint they smoked contributed to international terrorism, and recently that using marijuana will almost certainly result in acts of domestic violence. Lies. The "anti-drug."PDFA's well-intentioned but inaccurate PSAs feature a variety of scenarios, each ending with someone dying, being raped or going to jail. In reality, only the latter is a likely consequence of using marijuana.In one of the ads, two male teenagers smoke pot in what appears to be the home office of one of their fathers, and, as the two adolescents continue to smoke, they stumble across a handgun. To see if it's loaded, one of the teens promptly picks up the gun and shoots directly at his friend. The gun is, of course, loaded, and the guilty teen, totally under the "control" of the marijuana, never thought to check for bullets or point the gun anywhere except directly at his friend. The entire grisly scene is followed by the words "Marijuana: Harmless?"If this television spot sounds totally implausible, even ridiculous, that's because it is, and the others are just like it. The ad would be better-aimed at parents who fail to lock up their handguns. The fact remains that people don't test to see if a gun is loaded by blindly pointing it at their best friend and squeezing the trigger, stoned or not. The ad's message is not simply that marijuana distorts perception and judgement, it is that if you smoke weed, you will be shot or perhaps shoot someone else. This is false.All of these ads play on what I call a "worst case scenario" fear. The most horrible thing that can happen in any one of the given commercials always does, and, without fail, marijuana is to blame.Another of the PSAs features a car full of young people at a fast food window smoking marijuana. The teens get their food, and as they are pulling out, a child on a bicycle pulls out in front of them from behind a corner, totally getting run over by the "negligent" driver in the process. If only the teens hadn't been smoking marijuana, the commercial implies, perhaps the little girl on the bicycle would have lived. The fact that this child appears to be younger than 5 years old and riding a bike without parental supervision along a busy commercial fairway is never addressed. Again, the ad would better serve parents who let their children play in the street unattended. Anyone, regardless of age, who darts in front of a moving car is likely to get run over. Marijuana has nothing to do with it.Perhaps most intriguing is the spot in which two teens, a male and a female, smoke marijuana at a party. After smoking a few bowls of weed from a pipe, the female begins to look comatose, and her male companion proceeds to rape her in front of all the people at the party. Not surprisingly, no one comes to her aid, and viewers are again asked "Marijuana: Harmless?"Here, marijuana use leads to an impromptu rape at this poor woman's expense. Mark Tutssel, vice-chairman of Leo Burnett USA, PDFA's ad agency, said in a press release that the company's PSAs dealt with "everyday occurences." I would venture to say that none of the aforementioned scenarios occurs every day, if at all, and PDFA, which prides itself on truth, is willfully misleading the American public about the "dangers" of marijuana.Here are the facts. The Marijuana Policy Project's Web site -- http://www.mpp.org -- lists that 11 of our 50 states consider marijuana to be a medicine and have decriminalized it. Of these states, California alone saves $100 million each year in reduced arrests, according to the group's Web site. Imagine what the extra money could do for California and how much might be saved if marijuana was legalized outright.In fact, the Web site states that the government has been supplying American citizens with medicinal marijuana for more than 20 years. There is even a pill form of the drug, called Marinol, available only by prescription. So is marijuana the scourge of society and the corruptor of youth? The U.S. government doesn't seem to think so.When dealing with tough issues such as drug use, one must take the good with the bad. Marijuana can arguably be said to cure more than it causes, and its medicinal qualities cannot be ignored. Could there be negative effects of using marijuana? Sure, but to think that smoking pot will almost certainly lead to accidental death, rape, or murder, you would have to be, well, high.Source: The Battalion (TX)Author: George DeutschPublished: January 13, 2003 Copyright: 2003 The Battalion Online - Texas A&MContact: opinion thebatt.comWebsite: http://www.thebatt.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org/MPP Contemplates Medical Marijuana Use http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15145.shtmlAnti-Drug PSA's Must Be Identified http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14693.shtml

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Comment #9 posted by FoM on January 14, 2003 at 16:06:14 PT

Floyd
Thank you. I really feel that way. Give me dedicated people in any party and I'll stand with them but not their party. I like some things about Republicans and Democrats but that isn't enough for me to become a party person.
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Comment #8 posted by Floyd on January 14, 2003 at 15:35:59 PT:

FoM
FoM, I really like your comment on being 'no a party person'. I think that no party is ever 100% right or 100% wrong. Instead of people always blindly voting for their 'party', I wish more people would choose a party base on each its CURRENT approach to its country and its countries problems.
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Comment #7 posted by The GCW on January 14, 2003 at 05:43:23 PT

Kegan, remember the fights in the streets
during Nam?We had protesters out there And the supporters of killing and being killed in Nam had protester busters out there...It will be over not just cannabis and not just protesting the war. It will be directly protesting bad genealogy. Then the question is, is Bush and Clinton et al. all part of the SAME bad genealogy?+ I just got this E-mail this morn. A WEEK OF RESISTANCE FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE -- January 13-20, 2003Colorado Greens are participating in a Denver march and protest co-ordinated
with similar events in in Washington, D.C. and most major cities across the
country. Locally coordinated by Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center and
the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace 720-956-0700, www.ccmep.org.  www.ccmep.org. 
(copy & paste if it fails...)Monday, January 20th -- March in the MLK Marade, gathering 9:00 at MLK
Memorial, City Park, 10:00 marching down Colfax to Civic Center Park. Bring
peace signs. Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Rally and Marade9am: Rally at City Park MLK, Jr. statue (1 block north of 17th Avenue/East
High School)
10am: March/Parade down to Civil Center Park###Other events for peace during the week:Wednesday, January 15th: MLK's birthday -- March & National Fast for Peace
(sponsored by the National Council of Churches): Commit to fast for 24
hours. Donate money saved on food to medical work in Iraq or local
anti-poverty agencies.
March: meet 11:00 AM on the sidewalk outside Samaritan House (2301 Lawrence)
to walk through downtown ending at a 16th St. Mall location -- possibly the
WTC plaza opposite the Adams Mark Hotel.Thursday, January 16th -- Filibuster for Peace at senators' offices:
10:00 AM: Ben Nighthorse Campbell, 6950 E. Belleview Ave., Greenwood
Village;
1:00 PM: Wayne Allard, 7340 E. Caley Ave., Englewood.January 18th: KGNU 88.5 FM - BOULDER - will have Coloradoans at the DC & San
Francisco Rallies LIVE
KGNU will broadcast calls from Coloradoans participating in the January 18
rallies in Washington, DC and San Francisco.
We will be on the air from 11am to 5pm Mountain Time.
88.5 in Boulder 89.1 in Fort Collins 93.7 in the mountains
simultaneous webcast at www.kgnu.orgNext Month:February 3rd: Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to Speak in Denver
Auraria Campus, Tivoli Student Union, Room 320
1:00pm
Her speech is titled "War on Terrorism and the Future of Civil Liberties".
McKinney was Georgia's first African-American Congresswoman and the only
woman to have served in the state's congressional delegation, she emerged as
an
internationally renowned advocate for voting rights, human rights and the
strengthening of business ties between the US and Africa. She has also been
very vocal against the war on Iraq.
Sponsored by MSCD African-American Studies Dept.###"Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now... I speak as an American
to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours.
The initiative to stop it must be ours.""We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent
co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act,
we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of
time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without
morality, and strength without sight.""I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great
initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours." -
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.All quotes from: Martin Luther King, Jr., "A Time to Break Silence,"
Riverside Church, New York City, April 4, 1967Say No To War In Iraq
Defend Civil Liberties
No To INS Roundups
Fund Human Needs At Home and Abroad----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
Brought to you by Summit Greens www.greens.org/colorado/summit. To be added
or removed from this list reply with subscribe or unsubscribe in subject
line.
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Comment #6 posted by Kegan on January 14, 2003 at 05:09:55 PT

War
What the Citizens south of the medicine line don't even realize (while they worry about Iraq) is that they are on the brink of a civil war.I'm talking governments being overthrown, cops and soldiers and citizens all shooting each other.You remember how fast East Germany fell apart... Remember? Wall is up.... wall is down. Bam.Soviet Union? Oh, right... I remember that...Rome? City in Italy....This is the big one kids...
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Comment #5 posted by p4me on January 13, 2003 at 20:59:38 PT

The real real worse case senario
After the country finds out the media laid the carpet down for the presidency by hiding the real facts about Busch. Don't tell everyone he didn't get on the gravey train until he was 29 and finished with his MBA to lose money everywhere he went. Don't say he missed 17 months of guard service. Who knew a company would even consider just forgiving hundreds of thousands of dollars they lent to buy stock. Who ever questions why he doesn't show the tax return for that taxable forgiveness. The message to the children is you need to lie to get where you are going. Say you will respect states decisions on medical cannabis and then start threatening doctors and locking up patients. The only reason people don't call him a professional liar is because you cannot tell if he is just to stupid to get his facts right. Just read this copy from http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh011303.shtmlGEORGE W. BUSH (on tape): You hear a lot of talk in Washington, of course, about, you know, “This benefits so-and-so” or “This benefits this”—the kind of, the class warfare of politics. Let me just give you the facts; that under this plan, a family of four with an income of $40,000 will receive a 96 percent reduction in federal income taxes. Now, that may not mean a lot of money to some of the big shots. It means a lot of money for the family of four making $40,000. The worst thing that could happen is we find out the American people are so controlled by the media they send this guy that couldn't run a McDonalds back to be the leader of the fascist world.Free Cannabis For Everyone

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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on January 13, 2003 at 19:58:21 PT

The real worst case scenario...
snort coke... and You could end up the president.
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Comment #3 posted by AlvinCool on January 13, 2003 at 19:56:02 PT

Voting is almost rigged
I understand but the problem is the "frenzy" factor. Both the republican and democratic parties understand it they just refuse to talk about it. Kind of like the blackout of marijuana news across the US since the end of November. The frenzy starts about 60 days prior to the election and builds until voting occurs. This is a US thing not a Canadian thing. In the last 60 days people will look at Bush and froth and then look at all the other parties then pick the Democrats as people convince them not to "waste" their vote on a third party. They will convince them that if they do the evil Bush will go for a second term. Then they forget that by voting mainstream they guarantee the drug war, horrible prisons and debt. The person replacing Bush will be almost if not as bad.The key is to convince them to hold firm and let the evil bush get in so we can do something in 4 years.

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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 13, 2003 at 19:43:29 PT

AlvinCool
I'm not a party type person. I am for the people but not a particular political party. I believe that there are activists in all parties. I do believe that slowly cannabis sites devoted to reform are going to pull closer together. There are no winners until we all win. If we keep that focus we will start to work better together and will then see positive results. That's just my opinion though.
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Comment #1 posted by AlvinCool on January 13, 2003 at 19:21:56 PT

Politics
Why can't we just change politics by starting now instead of waiting until just after an election? Aren't presidential hopefuls getting ready now for their 2004 run?We are 30% of the voting public and we know that by the referendums that failed. With 30% a national party can get full debate rights and matching federal funds. I'm sick, and almost everyone else is, of the democrats and the republicans. I mean can we REALLY elect someone worse?What if all the cannabis sites formed a ring to pull voters to stay together to end the drug war and change penal prisons to correctional facilities and to hell with anything else? 
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