USA - Anti-marijuana propoganda (a gem from the DEA website)

[cannabis-sam]

Thursday
Marijuana: A Bad Choice I come from a fairly small yet diversified city in Southern Illinois. I'm finishing up my final semester in high school, and like many seniors, I'm practically counting down the days to graduation. I spend my free time shopping, watching movies, going to basketball games, or eating out with my friends. Like most teens I know, I've argued with my parents over curfew, I've fought with them over why I wasn't allowed to go to certain places, or why I wasn't allowed do certain activities. The thing is, now that I'm almost 18, it’s becoming time for me to have to make my own decisions. I have to start deciding myself how late to stay out, where to go, who to hang out with, and what situations I'm capable of handling. When I have the ability to make these decisions myself, and not have to ask for permission, there will be far less consequences for my actions. I won't have my parents calling me asking me why I'm late, or having to worry about calling them when I leave somewhere to go somewhere else. When there are fewer consequences, and less chances of getting in trouble, I think that in general people are willing to do a lot more things.

This generalization I've made, about people willing to do more things when there are fewer consequences, I believe also holds true for this concept of legalization of marijuana. The problem is, is that many of us are willing to believe false information about how marijuana is harmless, how its not as bad for us as some of the other drugs, and probably the biggest one of all, how everyone is doing it.

I know that several of you think what I'm about to tell you is a huge exaggeration, that I'm just trying to scare you. I understand, I used to think that the situation may have been over-dramatized to scare people. The truth is, maybe it's time for us to be a little scared. Marijuana is not a harmless drug. The use of marijuana has been linked to all kinds of dangerous damage in our bodies, especially teenagers. Use of marijuana, before the brain is fully developed, can cause an enormous amount of damage to the brain, and nerves connected to the brain. Marijuana has also been shown to cause mental diseases. Also, marijuana is extremely addictive. Many teens do not realize how addictive it is until its too late for them to quit on their own. Over half the teenagers in drug rehab today are there because of marijuana addictions. Many of us want to believe that marijuana is not as bad as crack, meth, LSD, and countless other illicit drugs, but in many cases the people who are on crack and meth started with marijuana. The big thing we want to believe is that it's okay because people say everyone else is doing it. We want to believe that everyone else is doing it, but that none of the bad consequences will happen to us. In reality, thousands of teens die from the use of drugs every year. There's nothing in the world stopping it from being you, unless you simply abstain from drugs. In fact, there is a huge increase in the number of teenagers who are abstaining from drugs in the past few years. With the actual effects that marijuana has on individuals, I can't see our society today be a functional self-sustaining society if the legalization of drugs occurs.

I find it funny that all those teens in 'rehab' for marijuana are most likely there because they picked rehab over a custodial sentence.



I don't think I really need to say anything else it takes the piss out of itself.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Good post, hope this helps your rep which you need.
	Thanks for posting. I should give their site a visit for a deeper look. I hate those immoral bastards.

[Herbal Healer 019]

"I can't see our society today be a functional self-sustaining society if the legalization of drugs occurs."

Is alcohol not a drug? is it harmless? Isn't alcohol deemed "highly addictive", yet many ppl still use it responsibly rather than abuse it?

How in god's name are we still a functional self-sustaining society?

He failed to mention that while illegal drugs may be responsible for many deaths (many of which are a direct result of prohibition; gang violence, overdose due to impurity, the list goes on), that alcohol and tobacco (both legal), individually kill more ppl than any illegal drug & yet many would consider us a "functional self-sustaining society".

[cannabis-sam]

I've found you can usually tell when the evidence is bullshit because they say marijuana has been linked to or marijuana appears not marijuana has been proven to

[Herbal Healer 019]

True.

I hate it that the DEA and anti-drug organizations always talk about the harmfullness of illegal drugs, which are often exaggerated or completely false ("marijuana causes mental illness"), yet they fail to mention that 2 of the most harmfull yet legal drugs are responsible for more deaths than any illegal substance.

I'm sure these organizatins have good reason not to mention the fact that alcohol & tobacco are drugs, because it would start opening the eyes of our youth & inebidably lead to future generations ending the war on drugs (war on ppl), which just aint good 4 business.

W8 nevermind nobody cares about the reality of the situation; it's all about what's "socially accepted" these days bcuz ppl are 2 caught up with social stigmas against "illegal drugs" 2 realize the war on drugs is a fraud to monopolize the same drugs {many ppl dont realize in their pure form they are pharmaceuticals under a diff. brand name such as desoxyn (methamphetamine)} which are deemed "bad" when bought on the street.

As long as the average citezen has the right 2 smoke their cancer sticks & binge drink till they're face down in a puddle of their own vomit every1 wins, right?

[enquirewithin]

Just another case of a government agency being so far from reality that it's a joke. Smoking excessively in your teens is almost certainly not good for you, but but nor is alcohol(how many heroin addicts have not been involved with alcohol?). 'By issuing such plainly stupid propaganda they guarantee their own redundancy. If he US could give up its addiction to power and war, countless US and other lives could been saved. In fact, as is well known, drug use can lead to you being president or a politician-- you could become very psychologically damaged!

The state of Vets returning from Iraq with PTSD or a physical disabilities is much worse than virtually any drug users, certainly marijuana smokers! Most of the world's illicit drug supply comes from countries which are US client states, ie, Colombia, Afghanistan, Mexico.

The war on drugs ruins people's lives, not drugs. Still, how else can you fill the world's biggest prison system without imprisoning the innocent? Is Obama going o change this-- when hell freezes over

[Felix Guattari]

The biggest insult here, in my mind, is the total lack of actual studies cited. What is expected to be most convincing here is not information (which would address the audience as intelligent individuals capable of entering as equals into a debate), but rather the fact that it is written in the from of a testimonial from a peer. Remove the (mildly) clever rhetorical form, and all you have are the exact same statements you'll easily find plastered all over anything the DEA publishes.

What does this mean? It means that, once again, the DEA deems its audience incapable of understanding actual arguments, and presents instead contentless rhetorical gestures.

[cannabis-sam]

Just proves how safe cannabis is if the government can't even find real dangers to scare us off it.

[entheogensmurf]

I wonder how it is legal for them to flat out lie. I really don't understand.

[cannabis-sam]

I also wonder why anti-drugs groups keep banging on about legalization sending the wrong message to children or endangering the children.

First off it the supply was regulated and controlled to adults 18 an over you would be doing a lot more to protect the kids than have them go to some shady skag dealer for a bit of weed or a couple of pills.

Secondly, what message are we sending to the children when in the UK marijuana will now be classed alongside amphet and has a higher classification than ketamine I mean WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK>

And in america marijuana is classed alongside pretty much ever illegal drug.

It is fucking insane.

[entheogensmurf]

I find this amusing:

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-...asastudy.shtml

Joe Califano's Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse released results this week of a survey that asked 2,000 teens and 1,000 parents about attitudes and opinions on drugs and drug use. Among the least surprising, if most trumpeted results are findings that teens who have stable relationships with both parents are less likely to use drugs than those who describe their intra-familial relationships as antagonistic.
Bonnie Ross, a high school prevention, resource and intervention counselor in Oregon, told The Week Online that the issue of kids' parental relationships as a risk factor for substance abuse was a no-brainer.
"How much did they spend to do that survey?" she asked. "That conclusion would be a pretty obvious one for anyone who works with kids who use or abuse drugs. The money for that survey would have been better spent on resources for these kids. Stable connections, whether it be with parents, educators, coaches, any caring adult, really, serve as an anchor. Kids who feel disconnected and adrift in the world are more likely to seek escape and to engage in high-risk behaviors."
More interesting, but buried in the news coverage of the report, was the teens' response to a question about the availability of various substances. Specifically, teens were asked which was easier to obtain among cigarettes, beer and marijuana. While the overwhelming majority of teens listed cigarettes as the easiest, marijuana was a clear second. In fact, seven times as many teens (35%) listed the prohibited marijuana as easiest to obtain as listed beer (5%), which of course is legal and regulated.
Dr. Marsha Rosenbaum, Director of The Lindesmith Center-West, a drug policy think tank, told The Week Online that the availability of marijuana relative to alcohol is a product of a misguided policy.
"The question of availability is part of the larger question, that is, what are we getting for our money in the drug war," said Rosenbaum. "We're spending two thirds of our federal drug budget on efforts to keep drugs off the streets. The teenagers in this survey tell us how well that's working. It isn't."
"Interdiction has never worked, and will never work," she continued. "That is a given. If marijuana markets were operating under a system similar to alcohol, it would be more difficult for our kids to get access. People who support the status quo in drug policy often smear reform efforts by frightening people with the word "legalization," when in fact what reformers are talking about is regulation and control. Under prohibition, we have no control and thus we have kids who can buy marijuana at any age with no problem at all."

[dyingtomorrow]

Well considering that most governments consider "enlightenment" and "empathy with fellow humans" to be mental diseases, there is at least a kernal of truth to the article.

[doggy_hat]

Originally Posted by entheogensmurf

I wonder how it is legal for them to flat out lie. I really don't understand.

It's legal for them to do that because they're the ones with the guns.