It seems to me that latley marijuana commercials have become ridiculus. They say things like marijuana funds terrorist, or marijuana gets girls pregnant (which I have never heard of before). When I visit home and watch T.V. with my younger sister and her friends, they laugh at the commercials. Kids see these commercials as being ridiculus just as much as grown adults might. Marijuana is not as bad of a drug as these commercials make it out to be, and if kids figure this out they will have a harder time believing anything else we tell them about other drugs and other important issues. If we tell them anything, we should at least tell them things that are more reasonable. For instance one of the worst aspects of smoking pot is that you are less likely to make something of your life. Most pot-heads I knew in high school and college were intellegent but pretty lazy. Instead of learning new skills and hobbies, they sit around and get high. How about telling them that they will be less willing to reach for their dreams if they smoke. If they want to be great and aspire to their highest expectations of life, they should stay away from this drug. This is far more realistic and reasonable.

Welcome to the forum, Ambrose. Great topic.

I am in complete agreement with you. I think the lies that these commercials perpetuate will only serve to raise yet ANOTHER generation of mistrusting adults. People who, through experience and maturity, realize marijuana alone will not cause you to destroy your life. These same people will realize their government had lied to them about marijuana growing up and the mistrust-fire is stoked.

These commericials remind me of the propaganda film Reefer Madness. The lies in the ads about marijuana are as blatant and ridiculous as the movie was. My favorite-hated ad is the one where some young girl just "ends up" pregrant because she smoked pot. I think the cause-effect relationship they try and portray is FAR too simplistic and rather insulting to anyone who has an ounce of brains.

Who is this "AdCounsel" and who funds them? I'll have to do some digging...

Hmm, Philip Morris sponsors some of these smoking/tobacco commericals, after losing court case.

Would he really want kids to watch these commercials? Or he can use the "useless" technique Ambrose mentioned and "kill two birds with one stone": keep his business up and satisfy the government (i think its the government) requirements.

skap - I'm confused. You're mentioning Phillip Morris - do they have anything to do with the Ad Counsel's anti-marijuana ads?

hmmm very interesting topic.

Seems the way I take the commercials is that it is a subtle way to tell people that smoking pot impairs judgement. *shrug*

Will smoking a joint make you pregnant in the literal sense, no... COULD smoking pot impair your judgement where decisions you make while "under the influence" could result in pregnancy? possibly..

Just the way I took the commercials...

Respectfully...

Teenagers are savvy though. If they are seeing commercials that they construe as propaganda or exaggeration they will distrust the entire anti-drug campaign.

Use honest scientific information or be more sophisticated in your message backed up by statistics. Drug use = terror or drug use = pregnancy are not accurate equations. Terrorists benefits from some drug money and some teen pregnancies occur because of intercourse engaged in while under the effects of marijuana.

The worst of the ads implies that marijuana is a good date rape drug. Get your targeted victim into a bonged out coma and then move in for the kill. Alcohol would be much more effective in this type of illegal activity.

Fiore has a great animated cartoon out right now that addresses this. It is an anti-marijuana commercial interrupting a regularly scheduled commercial that implies drinking beer will get you chicks.

These ads are such a complete waste of money. I find it both stupid and perplexing that they are focusing so intently on Marijuana, when they could be addressing a problem like Crystal Meth. There's a drug that is actually very dangerous.

Marijuana is not physically addictive, and has a toxicity level so high (no pun intended) that it is literally impossible to smoke enough to reach it. I have known many doctors who smoke it; it certainly is a less destructive vice than drinking, by far.

Wanna get pregnant under the influence? Try alcohol or better yet, Ecstacy. Wanna get aggressive and start fights? Alcohol is definitely best for that. Wanna fund terrorism? Drive a car. Wanna accidently shoot your friend with daddy's gun? Besides having a stupid father, Meth would be better served here. Wanna relax, laugh a lot, and feel good? OK, in this case Marijuana.

As a wise man said, "Legalise it, don't criticize it. Legalize it, and I will advertise it."

Just to defend the commercials...briefly.... it never said weed gets you pregnant. It said it impairs your judgement. It was only implied that because she smoked pot, she didn't use good judgement, and then got pregnant.
If we're gonna argue against the commercials, lets at least make sure we have our facts straight.

There are all kinds of judgement impairing drugs and substances. Like, what about a good looking date? You might not be able to keep your eyes on the road while taking her out. One could easily get into a car accident because your eyes were wandering....

So...shall we ban attractive people in passenger seats? heh

--cheers

You are right digital patriot. I should have watched my wording a little more. I apologize. But I think if you watch the commercial again, you will see that they are trying to make direct connections to the girl smoking marijuana and getting pregnant. They are implying that if she had not smoked, she would not be in that mess, which is like you say a bad use of judgement. In a sense they are saying smoking = girl pregnant.

I am just saying that they are twisting facts and using half truths, and that is wrong.

I saw a commercial that had a few kids sitting around a bong smoking-the-refer and then one of them says something like "Hey, look I found my Dad's gun, isn't it cool, lets play with it". . .well, needless to say some kid ends up getting shot. Commercials like that one and the pregnancy one annoy me to no end; because in both cases I bet the tragic results of both commercials would more likely happen if the participants were drunk then if they were high. I wish I had the stats of how many women have gotten pregnant when they were drunk as opposed to high and how many people have been accidentally shot when a bunch of drunks were playing around with a gun. I would guess the instance of stupid accidents when one is drunk is 10 x more than when one is high, in my humble opinion. I'd like to see more commercials depicting drunken stupidness. . .it would at least be more realistic.

-Kisov

I'd place money that the odds are more like 1000 x 1! One of my all-time favorite Onion headlines: Study Finds Smoking Pot Linked to Sitting Around, Getting High.
Nuff said.

When asked about his dream for the new millenium in Rolling Stone, Willie Nelson said marijuana smoke should be piped into Capitol Hill and the White House - all the time. I second that emotion!

These commercials are disturbing, and you know what, good! Marijuana screws you up and if the only way to get that through teens heads is scare the bajesus at of them, that's fine by me.

CP

First of all, the kids who are scared by these commercials, rather than laugh at them, are likely to be kids for whom drug use wouldn't be an issue anyway.

If you smoke marijuana 6 times a day, every day, it will screw you up.
If you drink alcohol throughout the day, it will screw you up.
If you eat at McDonald's for every meal, it will screw you up.
If you smoke 4 packs of cigarettes a day, it will screw you up.
If you chew tobacco throughout the day, it will screw you up.
If your diet consists of nothing but chocolate, it will screw you up.
If you scratch the same spot on your head 50 times each day, it will screw you up.

Only one of these activities is illegal.

Anything can be done irresponsibly. Legalizing marijuana doesn't mean people are going to start smoking it all day, unless that's what they have already been doing. Occasional, and even regular moderate marijuana use will not screw you up any more, and mostly much less, than smoking or overeating or drinking.

That's why there are anti-smoking, anti-alcohol and anti-McDOnalds, oh wait, nevermind , anyway there are anti-smoking and anti-alcohol commercials, so that's already taken care of.

CP

Yes, there are. Alcohol and tobacco are much much more harmful than marijuana. The only reason for the marijuana commercials, the only reason it's even an issue, is because it is illegal. Nothing more. If it were legal, it wouldn't be worthy of a commercial, because the downside of it is nowhere near the level of alcohol or nicotine.

Of course that's why there are anti-marijiuana commericals! They are there in theory from making someone think twice before lighting one up. If they weren't illeagal then law-wise there would be no problem.

CP

Well, I was responding to your statement that marijuana "screws you up." So if they want to make an anti-marijuana commercial, just say, "don't smoke marijuana. It is illegal."

I contend that these commercials are grasping at straws, because of the very fact that it is widely known scientifically that marijuana is in fact not very harmful, that it does not contain physically addictive properties, and that it does in fact have medical uses (particularly as an anti-nausient). Since they don't have a scientific leg to stand on, they are resorting to childish scare tactics. Notice that the anti-smoking and anti-drinking commercials have a primarily scientific basis - because science backs it up. These things (alcohol, tobacco) will kill you.

Marijuana produces more carcinogens than tobacco. Marijuana produces more tar than tobacco. There are inherent scientific dangers to smoking it. Reports I have seen indicate a joint is more harmful than a cigarette. Tobacco is more addictive.

I am not sure if it is scientific but I have observed that "burn-outs" are less motivated and sharp than others. This is my observation from a year in the dorms my freshman year in college. I do not know if these effects are long term but the short term harm was clear to me.

It would be good to have commercials with some facts. But then again, most of the population probably responses to the ads as they are. Less knowledge is required.

That is true to a degree. However, while a tobacco smoker might go through 20 cigarettes (or more) per day, most marijuana smokers will smoke much less than that. So while a joint and a cigarette might be comparable in a theoretical way, it's really apples and oranges. If someone smokes pot the way a casual drinker might drink - a drink, say, each evening, but not enough to get drunk - then you're talking about only a couple of inhalations per day. Furthermore, the harmful effect comes purely from the act of smoking, not from the marijuana itself - in other words, if you ingest marijuana by other means than smoking, you eliminate those potential carcinogen problems.



As I said before, someone who smokes all day will be like someone who drinks all day - actually they won't be as bad off, but they will still be messed up. The effects, as far as I have seen, are not long-term. I know doctors who smoked regularly through med school, got excellent grades, and who are great doctors. Ditto lawyers. There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the idea that a moderate marijuana user will suffer either brain damage or any other long-term effects.

I feel differently about two of the commercials.

The "Hey, look at my Dad's gun" scenario actually happened to me when I was a teenager. Not the exact thing but it was very scary. My friends and I (2 girls and 2 guys) pulled up in a driveway of a party. The kid that lived at the house walked up to the car with a joint in one hand a pistol in the other. There were lots of kids on the front porch and in the driveway -- it was a big party. He leaned into the car window and was talking to one of the guys. Then he looked at me and held the gun to my head! I held my breath. Terrified is an understatement.

I don't think it's the most dangerous drug in the world but I do think it impairs judgement. I've witnessed it first hand on many occassions. However, there are many other drugs they should be putting their ad dollars toward in addition to marijuana. Heroine is a huge problem right now and it's not even covered in the media (at least in my city) because the townships and parents are keeping it a secret -- "it doesn't happen here." We're hearing through the parent grapevine about child heroine deaths in affluent neighborhoods around my city and it's not on the news!

A terrible commercial is the one depicting the girl keeps walking back to the sofa with the joint each time the doorbell rings. It actually does send the message to male children that this is a way to get laid. I saw the expression on my 10-year-old boy's face when he saw this commercial and it definitely sent the wrong message.

there is a very effective way to get around this (providing it is true, and not from "scientific" reports from government sponsored research (give a man a several million dollars and he will prove we live on the moon, not the earth) it is called a bong (legal term water pipe) the water filters out a lot of the solid matter in smoke. I smoke most my weed out of a bong.

as to it causing cancer, I know this is a lie, I know several people that have smoked for close to ten years and neither is a burn out, nor have cancer. (they are currently making a CD, which is very hard work and one works full time (the other was recently fired for unrelated causes)
back on topic.




and you were 100% he was only smoking weed? maybe the guy was drunk, or spun out (high on speed) or something? just cause he was smoking a jay, don't mean that caused him to put a gun to your head.

all the commercials are incredibly dumb. most of the events would likely happen anyway.

the kid with gun: he finds his dad's gun and accidentally shoots his friend, supposedly cause he is high. this is what happens when people don't teach there children how to properly handle a weapon. had the father been responsible, the kid would see the gun, and know not to play with it, it is not a toy. this was really the result of bad parenting.

girl on the couch: this one is obvious: the girl is drunk. from her behavior it is obvious (I have NEVER seen someone high acting like that) and at the end the dude puts down the pipe next to a bunch of drinks.

car accident: not sure how many have seen this one, it is kinda new. it is the one that ticks me of the most: a guy is driving, stops at a turn gets out and walks over to the curb, and stoops down in front of a roadside memorial (a cross, flowers etc...) during all this there is a female voice saying something like 9-10 people in roadside accidents test positive for marijuana. its more dangerous then we all though. my biggest problem is this smoking one time takes at least a week for THC levels to drop below the lowest testable limit, and someone that smokes once a day for two weeks will take 4 weeks for THC levels to get below minimum testing levels! and all this assuming you never burn ANY fat off (which will release THC metabolites which the test for back into your system) there are people that smoked for 2 weeks, and didn't test clean for like 2 months! this commercial implies that smoking weed once will impair your judgement for good.

the pregnant chick: I have never known anyone that got pregnant because they were impaired from weed, but do know people that got pregnant after getting drunk. pot may make you react slower, or forget stuff, but it don't make you not able to give it up. maybe the chick would have given it up anyway. and most people when caught up in the heat off the moment, don't use condoms, even when sober!

uh, that's all that comes to mind right now. for the TRUTH about marijuana, go to erowid.org, the best resource for drug information out there. (14 myths about pot http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cann...abis_myth.shtml definitely worth reading)

No, he wasn't drunk. I've been around and I know the difference. Alcohol and speed are opposites - I know the symptoms. His behavior was Cheech & Chong, in a fog, type behavior when he had the gun. Keep in mind that I knew these people so I knew their vices -- back then.



I agree that the girl behaves more drunk than under the influence of marijuana; however, that's not the point. The commercial is for clearly trying to send a marijuana message and many children will interpret it as such.


I'm not going to be afraid to readily admit on this forum that I "inhaled" quite a lot of marijuana when I was growing up. I actually smoked so much that I got violently ill on five -- vomiting and passing out. We weren't drinking or anything else.

It completely impaired me -- leaving me on the bathroom floor of my friends house (with the door locked for privacy) for so long that people came looking for me -- another time in another friend's bedroom -- oh! and one time I slid down and leaned against the back of a car where the exhaust fumes were coming out -- I'd hate to think what would have happened to me if my date hadn't come around the car and found me there.

Granted, I would have never felt in the mood to be seduced at a time like this but I'm not sure I could have defended myself from an attack.

Years later, I discovered that my sister also got violently ill from marijuana. We've concluded that we must be allergic to it. However, can we be sure that it's true allergies or if this can happen to anyone if they smoke enough?

I realize that this isn't a "dangerous" drug on the surface. However, as a mother, I don't want my son experimenting with it because I believe for some people it leads to other drugs. I grew up in an upper-class neighborhood and I'm here to tell you that all these things that I've witnessed and experienced in my life were not lower-class people. Last I heard, four kids that went to my school have died from crack -- and I'm still trying to figure out what it is exactly, synthetic coke? By the way, the kid with the gun, he's dead -- main artery in his head exploded -- crack.

I do my best to educate my son. We can't ever be sure if our children are going to have the same judgement we had. I was smart enough to realize that I couldn't handle drugs and my experimenting days were short-lived. How can I be sure my son will stop at marijuana when I've seen so many people move on to more serious drugs?

I'm so strongly against drugs. So many beautiful lives are ruined by drugs. I have a dear friend that I've known since first grade and she's dying from Lupus. She did so much coke and goodness knows what else that she's absolutely destroyed her immune and nervous systems.

Everyone I know started with marijuana. If commercials have the slightest chance of getting the message across, I fully support them. If they're going to do commercials, I'd prefer they did a better job of it than what they've been broadcasting.

First of all, I'm ashamed to admit that I've smoked cigarettes for almost 30 years.............I don't have cancer either...............yet. Ten years of smoking pot is not long enough to know if someone is going to get cancer. Let me know what they die of when they're older.

You say he was fired for unrelated cuases. I'd be interested in knowing what those causes were specifically. Often, one thing sometimes leads to another. Plus, employers commonly fire people for one thing when they are truly annoyed with another thing. An employer is required to help someone seek treatment for drug use -- many don't want the hassle and find other reasons to fire people.

Yes, there are many doctors, lawyers and successful people out there that moderately smoke pot and they are productive people. That doesn't mean that it doesn't effect other segments of the population differently.

Did you also know that your pot could be laced with crack or number of other drugs or chemicals and you wouldn't know it until it was too late?

People are rightly concerned with what tobacco companies do and you're trusting a chain of people working an underground that spans countries with what you put in your bong.

Your bong can't filter these things out!

Eva,
Rather than posting four posts in a row, please use the edit feature if you would like to add additional information to your post.

eva, marijauna has supossedly has four time the carcinogenic materials as cigerettes. therefore you would either be

a) four times more likely to get cancer or
b)would get cancer four time faster then cigerettes would cause

these are lies that say pot has for time the tar and carcinogenic agents in the smoke, tabbaco smoke and pot smoke are almost exactly the same, except that commercial tabbaco smoke contains polonium 210, and weed smoke does not (polonim210 is a radioactive material)

from http://www.webspawner.com/users/radioactivethreat/ :

For over 35 years, researchers and tobacco corporations have known that commercially grown tobacco is contaminated with radioactive elements (1). The contamination is sourced in naturally occurring radioactive radon gas (2) which is absorbed and trapped in apatite rock (3). Apatite is mined for the purpose of formulating the phosphate portion of most chemical fertilizers(4). Polonium releases ionizing alpha radiation which is at least 20 times more harmful than either beta or gamma radiation when exposed to internal organs(5).
(source at website I provide)

it is interesting to note that there is a commune on okinawa, japan, which grows their own food and stuff (they grow their own tabbaco) one man their smoked tabbaco since he was 11 (he was 80 at time of interveiw) and had no trace of cancer (they did not use chemical phosphate fertilizers)

I can't remember why my cousin was fired, I'll get back to you on that.

as to laced weed: I've smoked pot now for 2 years, I know what the high is like. If I start seeing stuff, or other things that don't happen normally do, I won't smoke anymore of it (and I will beat the crap out of whoever gave it to me)

and your last comment of the above qoute. I give you the one thing that is from erowid.org:
Every individual reacts differently to every chemical.
Know your Body - Know your Mind - Know your Substance - Know your Source.
this is why I do not worry, I know my body, I know my mind, I know my substance,(I will not put a substance into my body unless I know alot about it) and I've known my source for my entire life.

you say you are strongly against drugs, well, you know the best way to stem drug use? total legalization of all drugs! along with truthful education. lots of people start because it is rebelious to do drugs (at least prior to addiction. "it's illegal so it is cool, so to be cool and rebelious I'll snort some coke"


but back on topic (sorry admins for going off topic) the commercials-
the problem with them is the problem that has been around for years, and may cause pot to be a gateway drug (I do not prescribe to that theory myself) they are basiclly telling kids, "it will make you stupid and careless, and you won't be able to control yourself, blah blah blah" and some kid, despite seeing these commercials tries some pot. when he realizes that pot doesn't make you unable to stop someone from raping you, or so stupid you will shoot a friend, or whatever, he will think "If they have lied me about pot, mabye the have lied to me about cocaine and heroin and etc..." this may tempt some into trying other harder stuff. this is why marijuana leads to other drugs! if they told the truth and people tried it they would probably think "they told the truth about this so they are probably telling the truth about the other stuff."

and don't shelter your kid/s too much, they are likely to one day try pot. if you constantly push the whole " it causes cancer, and it kills people, etc, etc...." on them when they do try weed, and discover you have lied all along about weed, they will figure you have lied about other truly dangourous drugs (like crack) but again, I digress.

for true information on lots of sustances visit http://www.erowid.org and sorry bout the long post

This issue seems to always end up with a comparison between marijuana and legal substances. The real question is, "What gives government the right to decide what an adult, in the privacy of his own home, does with his body?" Marijuana should be legal. Alcohol should be legal. Heroin should be legal.

as far as my views on legalizing pot, you'll find them in the Marijuana Consumption debate, where they belong. But as for these commercials, I agree with most of you. These commercials are an insult to our collective intelligence. Taking advantage of a woman who is drunk is illegal. So shall it be with legal weed. Driving, regardless if you have an accident or not, while drunk is illegal. So shall it be with legal weed. And any parent who owns a gun should teach gun safety to their kids.Not doing so is immoral and irresponsible. Blame the parent's for that one. Yes marijuana can cause people to have less than perfect judgement. Guess what, so can alcohol. Where are the commercials saying"I got pregnant because of drinking" or "I got drunk and shot a friend with my dad's gun" Point is, these commercials are just a scare tactic used by the gov't to try to fight the continually growing public support of legalizing marijuana. Now we, the people, must decide if we'll let them win or keep fighting. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a joint in my room with my name on it.

What a great topic! I'd love to see someone try and discredit my opinion.

My favorite commercial is the one with the crash dummies, or wait, is it the one where the kids are at the drive thru? Well, reguardless, it's one of the two pertaining to car wrecks. They give some scary statistic about how (it's either 1/3 or 2/3) of people who got into accidents when tested for marijuana tested positive. First, marijuana stays in your system for roughly 30 days, so these tests are inconclusive when trying to show that these people were under the influence during the accident. Second, it's a fact that teens are in way more accidents than adults, whether or not they are high, just because their driving skills aren't up to par yet, they try to show off to their friends, etc. We all know that most teens smoke weed, so OBVIOUSLY this statistic could be reached easily. No, teens aren't all under the influence when in accidents, that's just ignorant to say considering how much more often teens crash...They aren't high 24/7.

I was in a car with a girl who was stoned when I was 14. She had poor judgement (showing off for a car of guys behind us) and ran a red light. I flew through the window, got 90 stiches in my face, and broke my orbital bone twice. (eye socket) I've had 9 plastic surgeries and a face-lift to reconstruct my face; I went through one hell of a time.

HOWEVER I know this girls' character. Stoned or not, she would have used the same poor judgement. It was my bad judgement to get into the car with her, and I payed for it. This all goes back to accountability.

We are wasting so much money on commercials about Marijuana and how it can alter your judgement, it makes me sick.

Alright, I'm a teen, and from what I've seen the commercials are doing more harm than good. I don't smoke because I used to have friends that did, and I saw what it did to them. None of them hit anyone with a car, got raped or pregnant, or shot anyone in the head- they just turned into a bunch of potheads and got sent to rehab. And that was enough for everyone who knew them to say "uhm, no thank you" when offered any drugs. All the cheesy, exaggerated drama of the commercials makes teens mistrust the government, not maijuana.

This may be the only positive to come from these commercials.

Agreed.

My problem with these commercials was the one with the kid that supposedly killed his brother while he was high on marijuana and driving. I myself smoke marijuana a lot... And it does not impair my driving for the simple fact that I know if I get pulled over, I'm screwed. Which is why when I smoke marijuana and I drive, I'm more cautious then I am when I am sober. My regular driving speed when I am sober is like 85-90mph nonstop (i live in the fast lane i suppose, i hate it when ppl drive slow & 60mph is slow ). Under the influence of marijuana I drive like a normal respectable person should drive. I have never been in a car accident because of it. And I smoke all day every day (except when I am at work).

Most people think marijuana users are burnt-out. I think that these so called "burn-outs" are burnt out because of other substances they have used that destroyed their systems or whatever else they do to you. I have been smoking marijuana daily for the past 3 years, and I am absolutely the same as I was 3 years ago, except for the fact that I am older and have a joint in my hand all he time. I have a job making a lot of money and I love what I do, I have my own house I am renting, I have my high school diploma, and I will be attending college in Sept. I see absolutely positively nothing wrong with smoking some ganja all the time.

I also think that the only reason the government wants to keep marijuana illegal is because if they legalize it they won't be able to control a taxation on it (and you know they will taxxxxxxx it like crazy!). Because marijuana is easy to grow anywhere with a little water and some sunlight or UV lights. I know a guy that grew marijuana in the trunk of his car! They would not be able to control its sale, tax, or anything else if they legalized it, therefor they would make no money off of it. Right now the governemt is making so much money they refer to as "drug money" which makes it theirs by law. If you have some pot on you, and you have like 100$ on you, its considered drug money. Therefor they take it and you do not get it back at all. What do they do will all the marijuana that they seize? Probably smoke it!!!

Thats all for now, I'm getting off work and I need to go home and grab my bong and have a smoke session. <-stoner!

- Casey Christensen
American Pothead, and proud of it.

Welcome to the forum, casey. If you would like to further debate the legalization of marijuana please join us in this debate Legalization of Marijuana - Poll.

Otherwise, let's keep this debate to the merits of the anti-marijuana commericals only.

I'm sorry but irresponsible, horny teenagers don't NEED pot to help them get pregnant!!Geesh! It seems like the people making these adds forgot what the raging hormones of a 16 are like!

OIL funds terrorism. OPIUM funds terrorism. COCAIN funds terrorism.

A large portion of the pot supply in America comes from our neighbor to the north. So unless the anti pot people want to accuse Canada of funding terrorism...

POT gives you the munchies.

Good point. It isn't unusual for those who are too old to "sin" to be the most vocal about those who are still young enough to see the fun in it.
They really should recruit kids in the proper age group for advice.

I agree with you Ambrose. The commercials that I have seen are absolutley absurd. As a matter of fact, the only anti-drug commercial that I have seen that does not fall under the category of ridiculous is the one where the kid comes down the stairs, and he's punked out with spiked hair, ripped clothing, earrings, etc., and his mother wants to know where he's going. The narrator then says, "Let your kids be who they are, but know where they're going," or something to that effect. And I think that is the message we should be sending: let your kids be who they are, and show your love by caring where they go, and who they associate with. But, back to the question at hand. Relate the everyday facts about marijuana, the facts that kids can actually relate to, and don't talk down to them. Believe it or not, teenagers are capable of making pretty good decisions. Quite frankly, if a kid wants to try marijuana, he/she is going to do it, whether he/she knows marijuana supports terrorist groups or not. Once the decision has been made, there is no turning back. So, the media should lay off of the scare tactics, and stick to the facts.

I'd like to see them try to cite a statistic of how many girls got pregnant WITHOUT smoking marijuana! Like, say--MOST OF THE HUMAN RACE???

The answer to stopping marijuana from allegedly funding terrorism is:

(drum roll) LEGALIZE IT! (clashing cymbals)

Alcohol has been way more responsible for the irresponsible behavior of people--and since the government gets revenues from it, it's evidently okay.

This constitutes major hypocrisy. We just need to get the word to the right people that big bucks can be made with the legalization of gonja, and voila! Capitalism at work.

First, let me state for the record that I am for legalizing marijuana.

Now for a rebuttal.

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, teens who use drugs are five times more likely to have sex than are those teens who do not use drugs. CASA also states that teens who have used marijuana are four times more likely to have been pregnant or to have gotten someone pregnant than teens who have never smoked pot.

http://www.casacolumbia.org/newsletter1457...tm?doc_id=21642

I have been known to take a toke and I know how it affects me. I have three reactions; I get very mellow, very hungry and very .

I believe the commercial about marijuana and pregnancy is valid.

It was stated before, so I'm only adding to that side of it.

The commercials are just saying that you use poor judgement, that you may do things while stoned that you would not normally do otherwise. I see nothing absurd about that.

The reason they use these admittedly extreme examples is because of the studies/polls done on teenagers. Most teens are afraid of getting pregnant at an early age. Most teens are afraid of harming others and going to jail.

While going to school, the general consensus was that marijuana gets you feeling good and all you do is have a good time. I don't remember any of my peers ever say, "Dude, stay away from that stuff, you could do something you'll regret". I can't say the same for alcohol. I can't tell you how many times I had heard stories of waking up in the curb of a street, waking up next to someone you didn't know, getting in a wreck because they were too drunk.

So, the commercials are directed at people who really don't think marijuana has any negative impact on you. Believe me, there are a ton of these people out there, unfortunately not all of them are teenagers.

...These ads don't scare anyone! Especially NOT the teens! I saw an ad for smoking cigarettes through Truth, and it just made me want a cigarette. In these cases, why can't we allow the parents to show what is right and what is wrong. I know that some parents really aren't qualified to be parents, they just wanted to see what they could create in the backseat. Somewhere, in some point in time...the parent HAS to step in, and HAS to show their child. Whether through their own past expierences, or someone elses. When did it become the governments job to be the parent??

Please don't let my post confuse you, however, I'm all for the legalization of marijuana and the smoking of it all around the world! Right now, my objection is in the base of these ads. They're spending our tax dollars to show these ads to teens, who don't care. I just think it's time for the parents to take charge at sometime, and if not the parents...I'm sure there are grandparents, aunts, uncles...someone who can show teens the right way.

Those samples require some context.

Marijuana use cannot be positively tied to sex as a causitive factor.

Now I've never done any studies myself on the subject, but the line of reason that comes to me when drug use and teen pregnancy are connected is not necessarily that one causes the other, but that both behaviours are outward expressions of some internal characteristic; whether it be a rejection of authority, a disdain for popular morality, or a sense of nihilism.

Maybe, Ataal, that's because there's foundation for one set of anecdotes and not for the other. I have used both alcohol and cannabis. Under the influence of alcohol, I have woken up, if not in the curb of a street, in places that were not my own bed. I have known people who got in wrecks due to alcohol consumption. Under the influence of cannabis, I have never passed out anywhere untoward - in fact, I have never passed out at all. I have never known of anyone getting in a wreck due to cannabis consumption. Admittedly, I have frequently woken up next to people I didn't know - but that's been under the influence of alcohol, under the influence of cannabis, and stone cold sober. Sure, as beladonna put it, cannabis makes me . But, hell, ice cream make me - and I'm hardly going to start campaigning for ads condemning Haagen-Dasz.

The point is that cannabis does not impair one's judgement the way that alcohol does. If the people making these ads were genuinely interested in the welfare of the youth of America, they would either start making honest ads about more serious drugs - or they'd be making ads about alcohol abuse, which is a far more serious, widespread, and damaging problem. They don't care about the welfare of the youth of America - they care about spending their anti-drug budget so they can get as much money - or more - to waste next year. It's downright immoral.

And I bet the government could tax it even more than alcohol/tobacco combined.
Let's see, $5 (for a 5 pack) plus $20 tax, would that work?
(I have no idea what these things cost, as I choke and puke just inhaling one drag from a cigarette)

To be honest, I think those commercials are great! I can't believe that anyone buys into them and they are thoroughly entertaining when I' m stoned.

I'd like to preface this by saying I do believe pot should be legalized. (for adults)

Honestly, I don't think teenagers should be smoking pot, but these commercials are a waste of money. The statistics they report are so ridiculous no teenager would believe them, and as UJ said, correlation does not imply causality. The truth is, if you smoke pot, or drink, or sit at home playing videogames, or skate all day instead of going to class you are not going to do well in high school. Showing up high doesn't help your education either. There are just more important things to do at that age than waste time, and pot is another way to waste time (I'm not saying it's not fun).

But watching commercials is not going to keep kids from smoking weed. Parents will stop kids from smoking weed. I didn't smoke in high school not because I didn't want to or didn't have the opportunity. There were just better things to do, and my parents encouraged me to do them. These commercials are just another excuse for parents to shirk the responsibility they should be taking themselves.

I think that so many teens ignore them because they don't convey any sense of legitimacy and blame outside factors on marijuana.

I remember an ad that showed a guy smoking in a public restroom, and then a cop comes in and arrests him.

The narrator says "Marijuana can get you busted"

Then it fades to black and says "Smoking, harmless?"

This commercial doesn't make me hate marijuana, it makes me hate cops! There is another that says that marijuana causes you to crash cars, etc. ALL of these are outside factors.

If there was a commercial that showed a bunch of teens, sitting on a sofa and smoking marijuana; and all of the sudden one passed out with the narrator in the background saying:

"Marijuana destroys nerve cells, every chance you use it brings you closer to death!"

I'm sure that a lot of people would stop. But marijuana isn't lethal, so they have to keep blaming outside sources.

In the pot-smoking community, these commercials are a never-ending source of laughter. Every time we pull up to Wendy's or some other fast-food joint, we always crack jokes about running over little black girls on pink bikes. We laugh out loud every time we see the "marijuana can get you busted" commercial. Once, after getting high, my girlfriend came running out of the bathroom holding a pregnancy test, screaming "Oh my God, the pot knocked me up!" That's about how seriously we take these things.

In short, these commercials are a waste of money. However, they might as well keep 'em coming, because most intentional comedy isn't that funny anymore.

You don't get out much I take it. I know three people off the top of my head. I could ask around here just at work and get more names. Heck, maybe I should talk to my wife's NA counselor, I'm sure she could get a rough number off the top of her head as well. But hey, as long as you don't know anyone, it obviously never happens.



Then I guess you missed my point completely. I never said it impairs one's judgement the way that alcohol does. I said there's a misconception that marijuana does not impair your judgement at all. I had thought maybe it was just in school, apparently it's prevalent here as well.

Correction...you know three people off the top of your head who exercised poor judgement. These people got into wrecks themselves, not pot. Was marijuana driving their vehicles? No. Were they driving their vehicles? Yes. So it is their fault. The fact that they decided to drive while high is their decision and their fault and the consequences lie with them. Pot has nothing to do with it. Pot can't make people do things. People make themselves do things. Marijuana use is responsible for zero driving accidents. Unless, of course, you know of a marijuana leaf that can drive a car? I didn't think so.