Make Marijuana Legal

I picked a few videos because they are all very short.

Brain On Drugs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs

Pete's Couch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yfEvfJ9XAw&feature=related

Dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgJdVEoVbgg&feature=related

Smushed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRiGD4VRIf0&feature=related

Anti-marijuana videos are stereotypical towards marijuana users, portraying them as abusers who have smoked too much and who society views as unfavorable. The content is not surprising. The public has been misinformed about marijuana since the 1940’s. Strict laws, multiple lies, exaggerated threats, and poor videos like these maintain the notorious and fearful label that marijuana has wrongfully received. I looked up a few commercials because they are all so brief. Most of them, however, have terrible arguments. They proceed to use misled, inflated information to persuade their viewers not to smoke marijuana. The only good videos understand how to approach an abuser’s downfall with the right messages.
Let’s start with the “Brain On Drugs” video. I like this video because it is short, sweet, and to the point. Melted, sizzling butter in a hot pan is considered “drugs” and an egg, labeled as “your brain,” gets dropped into the pan and instantly starts frying. The message is gloomy and dark, but hits home. It’s scary to think that your brain gets destroyed by drugs as easily as a fried egg. But the video broadly defines the butter as all drugs and not just marijuana. Marijuana is similar to a cigarette with its harmful physical effects. It would take an overly exorbitant amount of marijuana to fry your brain rather than the small amount of other drugs such as cocaine or heroin. I included this video because it is a great example of misinforming the public. They are shown videos like these and are told marijuana is just as bad as the real drugs causing that egg to fry so fast.
“Pete’s Couch” shows a bunch of friends sitting idly on a couch, obviously wasting away their lives doing nothing. The narrator explains how having fun and being active is more dangerous than getting high and sitting on Pete’s couch “til you’re 86.” What the narrator doesn’t say is how research has shown marijuana to actually be used as a recreational and social drug. Users smoke marijuana to get a better enjoyment out of the things listed in the video, not to avoid them.
The video “Dog” really agitates me. First off, smoking marijuana will most definitely not make you believe your pet dog is talking to you. That is a stronger, more dangerous drug being talked about, and has nothing to do with marijuana. Secondly, where is the argument? All the dog tells Lindsay is, “You’re not the same when you smoke.” He doesn’t mention anything else! I feel the video merely uses a depressed dog as an image of pathos that really grabs the attention and concern of the viewers, causing marijuana to become a scapegoat for the dog’s rejection, when really marijuana is not at fault. Peer pressure is the real reason why Lindsay doesn’t play with her dog anymore, which is what the video “Smushed” focuses on.
A girl is smushed like an accordion and is asked why she isn’t as tall as she used to be. Ironically, she explains how pressure has caused her not only to look how she does, but how it also got her to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol. This video is the best anti-marijuana video because it is the only truthful one. Peer pressure is the leading instigator of drug use, specifically marijuana. Everyone is too busy pointing the finger at marijuana rather than themselves for their abusive habits.
But most of these videos are abusive themselves. They abuse the image of the marijuana user, causing society to view them with great disapproval, even though a large majority of society today has experimented with or currently use the drug. They abuse the public’s rights to know truthful information about marijuana and not over exaggerate it. But most of all, they abuse my stomach from laughing so hard at how ridiculous they are. These videos are more entertaining than anything. More time should be spent on figuring out a way to make this recreational drug legal, taxing it, and being truthful towards society.

~El Doons