Marijuana Misled
November 6, 2002
Three new anti-marijuana commercials have plagued televisions and infected the already crusted brains of the ignorant. Granted, drugs might not be the best endeavor, but I would rather smoke ganja all day than live through any of the scenarios these commercials deceivingly blame on the effects of marijuana. The first commercial begins with a car full of smokers, smoking in front of a fast food chain’s drive through window. Smoke is rising from the cracked car windows, implicating that the ride was recently hot boxed.
The attendant asks for the money, which they do not have. Simultaneous laughter occurs due to the fact that they have no money and they speed off. An innocent child on a bike, wearing a safety helmet is struck. The laughing stops. A black screen with the message, “Marijuana affects your reaction time,” flashes as the commercial ends.
It’s an exaggeration of a truth. Kids get hit while riding their bike, but not because of marijuana. Kids get hit while people are stuffing their fat faces with fast food, which causes obesity and kills thousands. Kids get hit by schmucks on their cell phones who don’t pay attention to the road, and by coffee induced speed freaks who are too on edge to get to work.
If I were a parent who is ignorant of the effects of marijuana, the next commercial would scare the hell out of me. A girl passes out from smoking weed.
A sinister boy she had been passing the pipe to all night slyly looks around and begins to molest the passed out teen. He grabs her breasts and begins to kiss her.
In my experience, I have never seen a girl pass out from smoking weed. This commercial is really about molestation and rape. It’s a commercial about a sick kid who is mentally disturbed. If any lesson is to be learned from this commercial it’s to KNOW your limit and KNOW who you are partying with. Parents are scared this could happen to their daughters and rightfully so. But it’s not going to be because of marijuana. It’s more likely to be alcohol, ecstasy or the Georgia Home Boy (GHB) that knocks your teen out.
The third commercial is a situation where a gun accidentally goes off. I saw an episode of the television show “90210” that played out the scenario. Two kids playing with a gun that goes off. No sh** it goes off, but not because the person had been smoking weed but because the gun works, the handler is an idiot and the owner of the gun is irresponsible.
These commercials are a basic appeal to ignorance. The real messages in each commercial should read: drive with your head on straight, don’t get so jacked up at a party that you pass out, don’t molest passed out girls, and don’t play with guns. Real smokers know when enough is enough.
“Just say no” needs to evolve, grow or be revised. Know how drugs affect you.
Know your body, it’s your temple, before crossing the invisible line of intoxication. Know who you are dealing or taking them with. When it comes to drugs, Just Say Know. Blaze one for the nation.
Peace.