cannabisnews.com: YouTube Meets Reefer Madness





YouTube Meets Reefer Madness
Posted by CN Staff on September 24, 2006 at 10:51:48 PT
Opinion
Source: Chicago Tribune
USA -- A generation ago--OK, almost two--one of the most entertaining late-night diversions was an over-the-top anti-drug film called "Reefer Madness." Who could forget the tragedies visited upon young Bill and Jimmy when they accept an invitation to the apartment shared by Mae and Jack, the co-habiting pot sellers? Meant to discourage marijuana use--it was titled "Tell Your Children" when produced in 1936--the film became a cult classic among college students in the 1970s. Usually, the audience was stoned.
Today's young people are no more receptive to anti-drug propaganda than the "Reefer Madness" crowd, judging from the response to a new campaign by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Last week, the ONDCP posted a series of 30-second spots on YouTube, the Internet video-sharing site. The government ads, all previously seen on TV, are now featured alongside countless amateur videos in which the mostly young subjects sing, dance, rant and clown for the camera.Visitors who use YouTube's search function to find videos associated with words like drugs, weed, pot or 420 (a reference to marijuana, we learned) may stumble on the slick spots produced by "ONDCPstaff," described in a user profile as an 18-year-old who lives in Washington, D.C. We found the spots amusing and hip, but that just goes to show you. YouTube regulars have assigned them ratings no higher than 1.5 stars (out of 5).The ONDCP isn't posting viewer comments, but you don't have to look hard to find them elsewhere. "The ONDCP has created a YouTube profile and it's about as cool as you might expect," reads a posting on stopthedrugwar.org. "Teenagers are a little smarter than the government gives them credit for," reads another, at homelandstupidity.com.OK, fair enough. Maybe you can give the government credit for going where its audience is, or trying to. It's a little like leaving those sex ed pamphlets on Junior's dresser instead of bringing up the subject at the dinner table: He might pay attention if nobody's looking. Thousands of viewers have clicked on the YouTube spots, and it hasn't cost taxpayers a dime; the videos are recycled TV ads and posting them is free.It appears, though, that the ONDCP hasn't done much in the way of marketing that has worked. The federal Government Accountability Office reported last month that the $1.2 billion spent on anti-drug advertising since 1998 has failed to reduce drug use among teens. The GAO found that youngsters who saw the ads remembered the message, but were not dissuaded from trying drugs. The GAO recommended Congress stop funding the ad campaigns until ONDCP can prove they work.A federal study did find that drug use by youngsters who are 12 to 17 has gone down slightly the last three years in a row. At the same time, it has gone up among those who are 50 to 59. Maybe the government should forget about YouTube and try to get its message out through the AARP. Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)Published: September 24, 2006Copyright: 2006 Chicago Tribune CompanyContact: ctc-TribLetter Tribune.comWebsite: http://www.chicagotribune.com/Related Articles: Cool Reception on YouTube for Drug PSAs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22187.shtmlU.S. Uploads Anti-Drug Videos To YouTubehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22175.shtml
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Comment #34 posted by global_warming on September 26, 2006 at 16:34:46 PT
and to Mason
Marc Emory and Mason are a Galvanizing Conduit,They are what every good human being has hoped for,The End of the War."People" are joining togetherTo bring down this insane disgrace,Single Mothers, orphaned children,Veterans and True Patriots,Gather to Give VoiceTestaments at the table of VictorySing and Join this TableFor this table has the loin and the fleshEverlasting Peace is in your soulWe can changeIt is Time for change
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Comment #33 posted by global_warming on September 26, 2006 at 16:14:23 PT
23 must provide a subject
"The weather is breezy and cool and the trees are starting to turn their pretty fall colors. It's a time when I think about wrapping up summer work and get ready for a long, hard winter if we get one this year. It also is a time when I think about our direction as far as Cannabis issues go and how our country is and where it might be going. Change is the only way that I can see hope for our country's redemption in the eyes of many people in the USA and in the world. It really is time for change."It is good that you write, for the summer of the year 2006, has seen more of the same bitterness, as the temperatures rise they reflect the rise of the mighty sea, whose banks slowly give way, to forces that we can write myths and songs, for is not our time, our place, to witness our place in this world that is given and belongs to Eternity.I hope that all this new medium is not used up with silly psaltery or profit driven madness, and the good news can shine through the many efforts to bring information to every one.
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Comment #32 posted by global_warming on September 26, 2006 at 15:48:02 PT
re: comment 25
b4daylight, nice, can you do some more?This new medium is only starting, and offers every person an opportunity to be heard, this is our time, on youtube, the wire that passes between every hand.
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Comment #31 posted by global_warming on September 26, 2006 at 14:57:09 PT
re: comment 29
See if you can install the extension called "Media Player Connectivity", that is, if you are using Mozilla Firefox, I also use Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative, but I also am using xphome version os.With a mere 512 meg of ram, this crappy little emachine is surviving my heavy hand..
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Comment #30 posted by Celaya on September 26, 2006 at 06:37:43 PT
whig
My guess is they would say they have so many thousands of videos that it would be a mammoth job to post them. I also get the feeling lately that they are running themselves ragged just trying to keep things going on their shoestring budget.I did find this Pot TV show at You Tube. It seems to be the only one and I'm not sure who posted it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TYq-eSUUHo&mode=related&search=Looks like there are lots of Pot TV shows at Google video.http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=pot+tv&hl=en
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Comment #29 posted by whig on September 25, 2006 at 22:59:46 PT
Celaya
I need to fix my computer first, my audio is messed up right now anyhow, and I have to keep using my wife's computer to do anything involving music right now.I don't really know who to talk to or what to say, anyhow. Surely whoever makes the videos for them knows the most about how they do it and what kind of archival copies they keep in what formats, and can go to YouTube or GoogleVideo to see what they require....
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Comment #28 posted by whig on September 25, 2006 at 22:53:10 PT
b4daylight
Did you write the music too?
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Comment #27 posted by whig on September 25, 2006 at 22:50:37 PT
b4daylight
Posted:http://cannablog.wordpress.com/2006/09/25/stop-the-drug-war/
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on September 25, 2006 at 21:34:35 PT
 b4daylight 
Good job. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.
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Comment #25 posted by b4daylight on September 25, 2006 at 21:24:21 PT
mine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxKvN2dTd_0this ad is so true. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxKvN2dTd_0
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Comment #24 posted by Celaya on September 25, 2006 at 17:02:39 PT
responses
whig: It's obvious you know much more about computers than I do. (I'm no mechanic, but I think I'm a pretty good driver 8^) I'd say it's mostly a matter of logistics with Pot TV. Like I said, they now have thousands of videos. Should they try and convert them all, or just choose some? Which ones? Since I'm not real knowledgeable about these things, you should try talking with some folks at Pot TV about your ideas.To me, Pot TV alone is reason enough to make sure Real Player works well for me. global warming: You are SO right. With all the millions of lives that have been destroyed by marijuana arrests, there is an unimaginable wealth of true stories that could melt even the hardest of hearts. We need to start telling them. Weeds seems to have broken the taboo somewhat. Hopefully, the dam will burst soon and this country will be awash in its shame!
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on September 25, 2006 at 17:00:35 PT
It is Time for Change
Global_Warming I couldn't agree with you more. The weather is breezy and cool and the trees are starting to turn their pretty fall colors. It's a time when I think about wrapping up summer work and get ready for a long, hard winter if we get one this year. It also is a time when I think about our direction as far as Cannabis issues go and how our country is and where it might be going. Change is the only way that I can see hope for our country's redemption in the eyes of many people in the USA and in the world. It really is time for change.
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Comment #22 posted by global_warming on September 25, 2006 at 16:46:43 PT
re: some 800, 000 human beings are in cages.
This year, And the year before, and the next year,It is Time for Change.
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Comment #21 posted by global_warming on September 25, 2006 at 16:39:44 PT
feeling, so alone
in the meantime, some 800, 000 human beings are in cages.it is time for some changes,starting with colorado, nevada, and this United States,Nixon is Dead, so is ansinger, and all his progeny,Deal or No Deal?
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Comment #20 posted by whig on September 25, 2006 at 16:20:58 PT
celaya
I don't think it would be hard to do, if someone at Pot TV has the videos in a standard format like AVI or Quicktime it should be a simple matter of uploading them to YouTube (and/or GoogleVideo) with the appropriate permissions.Real media is not a standard format, it is proprietary. I can make things work sometimes and with some videos but it's annoying on Linux, especially because I run a 64bit Ubuntu system. Google and YouTube use Flash to show the video which is also proprietary but it is more generically useful and works more seamlessly on my system. The AVI/Quicktime source scould be made available for download somewhere too, or better shared on BitTorrent to reduce the amount of bandwidth that it would require to host the files.
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Comment #19 posted by global_warming on September 25, 2006 at 16:19:45 PT
about faith
Having Faith, the promised land is in our hand, that gentle hand, we the people cognate, it is our place, our time, to vote, to stand up against injustice, we all have a chance to change, safer, it is time, to stand up, receive understanding, and your place in this Eternal and Holy Place.
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Comment #18 posted by global_warming on September 25, 2006 at 16:04:45 PT
there is a wave
and some of us have children, we wish to grow and be healthy, and enter the stream, surely, the young will explore every place on this earth, every place.It is so wrong to place the vails of criminality on their eternal journey. 
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Comment #17 posted by global_warming on September 25, 2006 at 15:31:23 PT
thanks celaya
Now I wish we had a script writer, to make amateur movies detailing a cannabis possession arrest, the dank jail, the discussion from the prosecuting attorney, the presiding judge, and a description how some simple youth who used cannabis is placed into a cage with murderers, pedophiles, rapists and other destructive animals. All to be uploaded to youtube and google video.The government has uplaoded there view, now it is time to upload some truth.
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Comment #16 posted by Celaya on September 25, 2006 at 14:42:34 PT
ALSO.........
NORML's Audio Stash has a couple of good interviews with SAFER. One with Mason Tvert in August here: http://www.normlaudiostash.com/id156.htmand one from last Thursday with Steve Fox, SAFER attorney, here: http://www.normlaudiostash.com/id195.htm
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Comment #15 posted by celaya on September 25, 2006 at 14:32:22 PT
whig
That's a good idea, but I'm not sure what it would take to do it.  As you probably know, Pot TV is an incredible resource for marijuana reform. They now have thousands of videos on line. Since Marc's DEA bust, they no longer have the income from his seed business, so they are operating on a very tight budget.Real Player is also a key media for countless sites. Have you tried re-installing it? If that doesn't work, you may need some technical help. I wouldn't feel I had sufficient internet access without it. There's a short interview with Tvert at Drug Truth Network (at minute mark: 9:50) here: http://www.drugtruth.net/cbaudio06/FDBCB_082506.mp3?b84
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Comment #14 posted by whig on September 25, 2006 at 12:33:06 PT
celaya
I can't even watch Pot-TV on my computer because the Real media player doesn't work well. Couldn't Marc Emery put those shows on YouTube, at least as an alternative way to view them?
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Comment #13 posted by celaya on September 25, 2006 at 09:31:42 PT
global warming
There's a video of Mason Tvert being interviewd by Marc Emery at Pot TV.
Pot TV Interview with Mason Tvert
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Comment #12 posted by ekim on September 25, 2006 at 07:53:58 PT
thank you Wayne
and thanks to everyone for expanding the truth to others.To those that are good at writing letters to the eds a request that the CO newspapers be asked --- What does the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition think of Prop 44 the Safer question. Bring a Leap speaker to CO and find out what prior Judges, State Police, Local Police, Corrections Officers. Have to say about the current Drug laws and what can be done to change them.Contact 
Mike Smithson
Speakers Bureau Coordinator
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.leap.cc  speakers leap.cc 
131 Flint Path, Syracuse, NY 13219
Cell: 315-243-5844 fax: 315-488-3630
Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/leapspeakers 
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #11 posted by global_warming on September 25, 2006 at 07:43:47 PT
would be useful
if people like Mason Tvert and the ones who are sponsoring the amendment in Nevada could put up some videos reflecting their current status, news and explanations of the finer points of these amendments.Maybe some of you have connections with these individuals and you could ask them to start using this medium..youtube or googlevideo,Thanks
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Comment #10 posted by Wayne on September 24, 2006 at 22:04:26 PT
re: Goose Creek raid
ekim, ask and ye shall receive.It's only 30 seconds, the quality isn't that good, but you can clearly see students hunched down like in a tornado drill while guns are pointed at them and dogs are let loose on them.And one person in the comments asked a good question: what in hell was everyone doing at school at 6:45am?? The whole thing stinks to high heaven, but if it was in any way staged, that is just SICK.
Goose Creek Raid at YouTube
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on September 24, 2006 at 21:06:17 PT
legalizeit 
Did you post a link to your comment here to youtube?legalizeit's comment at cannabisnews.com: 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/22/thread22200.shtml#8 
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Comment #8 posted by legalizeit on September 24, 2006 at 20:32:07 PT
I was going to post something but...
... Youtube has a silly 500 character limit on posts and try as I might I couldn't pare it down to that and still speak my mind. So here it is in its entirety..."It's amazing how every time the government comes up with a nanny law, it seems to come with the embedded effect of increasing the government's stranglehold on the people. Consider seat-belt laws; seat belts save lives so let's make them mandatory! It wasn't such a big deal until a number of states got wise and passed "primary" laws where the cops can pull someone over just for not being belted. That opens the door to cops racially profiling, pulling over and searching anyone they choose to, under the guise of just not wearing a seat belt! Same with the war on drugs - it's a noble goal to keep people off drugs (though I strongly disagree with pot and other natural drugs being lumped in with crack and meth), but it's turned into a multi-billion dollar police operation direced, yet again, at the public at large. The war on terror is supposed to keep us protected from more 9/11s (even though most circumstances surrounding the official 9/11 story still raise many questions), yet where are the spying and airport searching and accusations of terrorism mostly directed? At the American people!
It's time for the government to go back to its role as defined in the long-lost document known as the Constitution, and let responsible adults be FREE to do things they choose with their bodies, as long as no one else's rights are infringed upon. Isn't that what the FREEDOM Dubya's trying to spread around the world is all about??? Freedom with endless nanny clauses interspersed is FREE-DUMB!"
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Comment #7 posted by ekim on September 24, 2006 at 19:51:12 PT
is the Goose Creek Video on the Tube
seems that if that and the info on the just passsed house bill that allows complete searchs of schools on mere hear say, might just interest some Tube viewers.at least the John Lennon video of doing a concert for John Sinclare in Ann Arbor MI in 1972 because he was given a ten year sentence for two joints should go up aginst the just posted gov't ones.
http://www.minorml.org
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Comment #6 posted by Wayne on September 24, 2006 at 18:50:56 PT
hehe
This is a riot, I'm totally loving it! Children and teenagers seem to have this keen ability to see right through bullsh*t. There is no better example of this than on the YouTube comments section. It's very encouraging and gives me great hope, in fact seeing it almost made my day.All the news channels were giving the ONDCP's YouTube launch a fair amount of coverage last week. I wonder if they're going to follow up in the next few weeks with the multitude of 'positive' feedback that they're getting? No, my guess is that they will quietly let it fade off into the distance and never bring it up again. Every time you think the government couldn't possibly have any more feet to shoot itself in, they always manage to exceed your expectations.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 24, 2006 at 16:58:15 PT
Check Out The Comments 
Some don't have any comments but this one does.http://www.youtube.com/comment_servlet?all_comments&v=GeX3rOl-4j0&fromurl=/watch%3Fv%3DGeX3rOl-4j0
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on September 24, 2006 at 16:16:43 PT:
Just as predicted
The 'Net has proven itself a force for democratization many times before, and here's another example. The ONDCP haughtily posts the vids, but won't allow comments? The kids repost the vids...with the comments the ONDCP doesn't want to hear. And, as to be expected, they are quite caustic about the laughable content. The targets of their singularly lame efforts are shooting back...and they aren't missing. I love it...
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Comment #3 posted by Sukoi on September 24, 2006 at 12:42:06 PT
Comments
Go read some of the comments; they are not at all kind to the ONDCP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeX3rOl-4j0 (be sure to turn your volume down so you aren't distracted by the propaganda). BTW, SAFER Colorado now has a nice new blog:http://www.safercolorado.org/blog.html
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Comment #2 posted by observer on September 24, 2006 at 11:51:16 PT
Propaganda
The GAO found that youngsters who saw the ads remembered the message, but were not dissuaded from trying drugs.To the contrary, they want to try drugs all the more after seeing government propaganda. (And at some point, it must dawn on kids that their schools are basically, prisons, complete with lockdowns, sniffer dogs, and now, strip searches. Such schools exist, basically, to force obedience on the population using various punishments. They're good at punishing, schools. But I digress.) 
By showing young people having a good time smoking marijuana, Reefer Madness encourages young people to at least try it. By confusing marijuana with heroin and by telling the story of normal kids going berserk because of marijuana, "Reefer Madness" scares older people into demanding that something be done.Why are there conflicting messages in the movie?...In the book "Outsiders," Howard S. Becker describes how the Federal Bureau of Narcotics under Harry Anslinger created the marijuana problem to cause the public to demand legislation.
http://www.drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/reefermindcontrol.htm
Hypnosis and "Reefer Madness" 
From the book Mind Control in America by Steven Jacobson
(1985 Critique Publishing, P,O, Box 11451,
Santa Rosa, California, 95406)
Chapter 6. Hypnosis and "Reefer Madness" pp. 11-14.
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Comment #1 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on September 24, 2006 at 11:51:08 PT
Stop The Madness
In case you don't know, Archive.org has Reefer Madness available free online for streaming or downloading. Search Archive.org and you'll find Hemp For Victory too.
Reefer Madness
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