Anti marijuana propaganda counter report
These are direct quotes from www.freevibe.com which provides insight for teens who are unsure about drug usage and leads them away from illicit mind altering substances.
Quote: “I'ts as bad for your health-or worse, in some ways-as tobacco. You might be surprised to learn that marijuana contains the same cancer-causing chemicals as tobacco, and at higher concentrations. Smoking five joints a week is the equivalent of smoking an entire pack of cigarettes every day which, even in the short term, leads to lung and respiratory problems-wheezing, frequent chest colds and-yick!-a nasty phlegmmy cough. Long-term use increases the chances of tissue damage and lung cancer, and also causes changes in the brain similar to those caused by long-term use of cocaine and heroin.”
Counter: Certain parts of this statement are somewhat true, but twisted to make it seem much more grim. Comparing chemically produced common cigarette tobacco to a homegrown plant is completely biased and unfair. Marijuana, while the grower may choose to alter the structure of the plant for the sake of variety, is in no way comparable to the chemical content in a regular cigarette. While it is true that marijuana contains a higher concentration of tar than a single cigarette, saying that 5 joints in a week equals a pack a day is ludicrous and the quote offers no proof of this claim. Also, marijuana while being mentally enjoyable, is not chemically addictive like normal cigarettes. There is no physical addiction like there are with cigarettes, its just depends on the individual's will to change their own state of mind. Additionally, the active chemical in marijuana that induces the high feeling, THC, has been proven to be healthy and was used in tests to shrink tumors successfully. The only thing about marijuana that proves to be unhealthy, is the method of smoking it that causes all the same problems any cigarette would cause.
Quote: Several studies have linked marijuana use with poor school performance. It's harder to concentrate and retain information when you've been using pot, and every day of school is important to teens in their peak learning years. It should be no surprise that the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found teens with a "D" average or below more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the last year than those with an "A" average. You're more likely to drop out - or get kicked out - of school, or out of sports or other activities if you smoke marijuana.
Counter: While the study could prove to be true, it doesn't take demographics into account. Stereotypically, regular pot heads would be the students who don't apply themselves in the first place, and this proves to be true unfortunately. The ability to concentrate and retain information should not be placed entirely in the hands of marijuana, but the user themselves should be questioned about their ability to do so in the first place. While the short term effects of the high marijuana gives does include short term memory loss, it is short term. Thus it is the user who is not responsible enough to figure out their priorities that are failing classes and dropping out of school and showing up to class high is obviously an idiotic thing to do.
Quote: The likelihood of a car crash is increased by some of the immediate effects of smoking pot-longer reaction time, poor physical coordination, and impaired concentration. Marijuana also makes you more likely to do something stupid you might regret. Pot-smoking has been linked with risky sexual behaviors that increase the likelihood of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies.
Counter: Does this not sound like the familiar effects of alcohol? If not more so alcohol, as it has far more devastating mind altering effects than marijuana does on the brain. Once again this is all up to the individual and how responsible they are as a person. Obviously, it is a wise choice to not operate any motor vehicle while under any mind altering substance. They may say that while in the altered state of mind, you wont think rationally and that responsibilities someone might have sober are gone. Also the link with sexual behaviors due to pot is taken out of context. Alcohol is much more likely to result in an unwise decision or sexual behaviors as it not only changes your state of mind, but alters your entire personality and all good judgment is thrown out. And chances are, the parties involved in the sexual act would have done so anyway without marijuana, it is just an added ingredient to the experiment.
Quote: We're all anxious enough about how we look without having to worry about the stained fingertips and teeth, stinking breath, and bloodshot eyes that come with smoking pot. People who smoke dope can look a little-well, skeazy. They might lose interest in their appearance. They can also get the munchies when they're high-and it's not exactly health food they binge on. They don't call that tire-shaped ring of flab around the middle of a pothead the "stoner's spare" for nothing.
Counter: This quote is just a ridiculous attempt to get attention at vanity and incredibly shallow. While there are truths in this, there are plenty of well kept pot users who are absolutely not “skeazy” and lead respectable social lives. This is just a typical stereotype of any pot user. And saying that pot is bad for giving people the munchies is just like saying that advertisements for food are bad for making people hungry.
Quote: Marijuana use by teens-like the use of many other drugs-can make it harder to keep good relationships with your friends and family. Marijuana users can become loners or hang out with people who may not be a good influence, which means that if you already have good friends and a supportive family, you can grow apart from them or lose their trust.
Counter: Relationships do not come down to just the drug, but to how the people react to the drug. You cant blame an inanimate object for matters such as these, but how the user acts with them. The fact that a lot of marijuana users are not a positive influence, is due to the illicitness of the drug. And anything against the law of man in this day and age, is against everything good and moral...
Quote: Smoking dope can lead to anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and paranoia-and those problems don't improve over time. And don't you know someone who can't do anything without getting high? That's because they're addicted. Sixty percent of teenagers in drug treatment programs are there because of marijuana.
Counter: Once again, this is due to the unfortunate individual lacking responsibility and priority in the first place. There is no physical addiction to marijuana, it is the weak willed that fall to the state of mind alteration of it. And unfortunately for them, they are treated like alcoholics which is a real disease. Ever heard of marijuanism? Of course not because it is not physically addictive and it is impossible to overdose on marijuana like you can on alcohol. The only feasible way to overdose from marijuana is to smoke so much, you get no oxygen to your lungs, which is essentially drowning.
Quote: According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, kids who frequently use marijuana are almost four times as likely to commit a violent act-against either people or property-than those who don't. They're five times as likely to steal. So smoking marijuana can get you in trouble with the law and result in later problems like not being able to get a scholarship or a job.
Counter: They also forget to add in the part that the majority of these acts of crime are done by the poverty of the country and unfortunately minorities. Perhaps they left it out for political correctness, but the drug war is a race war, and it has been since the day of prohibition. Here are these two facts taken from articles with an obvious link to each other.
In the state of New York “African-Americans were 2.66 times as likely as whites to be detained before arraignment while Hispanics were nearly twice as likely. In addition, both groups were twice as likely as whites to be convicted on pot charges.”
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7201&wtm_format=printand..
“In 2002 African Americans accounted for 27 percent of all arrests, including both person and property crimes.”
http://law.jrank.org/pages/12137/Race-Ethnicity-Reasons-high-minority-crime-rates.htmlThe sad truth here is that there is a link between these two facts obviously, proving furthermore that the drug war, is a race war.
Quote: The people who profit from the $400 billion global drug business-and yes, marijuana is a big part of this business-are creep factor nine. They're criminals. If you're smoking pot, you could be the end-user of a product that may have been sold to help fund these people.
Counter: The solution to this problem is very simple, legalization. With the legalization of marijuana, money would cease to go to criminals and would go into the economy of the country itself. The economy would benefit greatly from legalization as there would be companies producing marijuana and another successful crop for farmers. The result of legalization would also reduce jail population as those who were jailed for just possession would probably be pardoned. Taxes would go down as the figurative war on drugs takes a hit, for the better for the nation.
Some more words:
The only reasons for any prohibition are the same as why alcohol was prohibited back in the day. Back then they didn't know how to deal with it and it was made illegal just like alcohol as a mind altering substance. It was seen as an evil mind altering substance and you would surely go to hell for using it. Now we've learned a great deal about the drug and its health benefits due to advances in science, but the government has refused to turn back on its policy. Perhaps just because they don't want to admit to having been wrong for an entire century.
Medical marijuana also exists for a reason, and states are starting to approve it. THC is very beneficial to the body and helps patients with cancer. The ONLY bodily harm that comes from marijuana, is the method of smoking it, to which of course there are alternatives.
Alcohol is a far worse substance than marijuana, yet it is legal. And alcohol leads to a very real disease known as alcoholism and also liver failure. People die every year from alcohol poisoning and to this day, there are no reports of marijuana poisoning or deaths caused by marijuana overdose which remains still to be fictional.
Putting marijuana under the same restrictions as alcohol would be a phenomenal decision. Making it legal yet 21 or so to be able to purchase and consume it legally. Once again legalization would greatly reduce the money flowing to the black market and even strengthen the economy of the nation. It is said that legalizing marijuana in just one state, would create more revenue than the gold rush. “The first states to regulate and tax marijuana will receive an economic bonanza bigger than the original California Gold Rush,” was a direct quote from the spokesman from the group “Let Us Pay Taxes” Clifford Schaffer.
More articles involving real world situations and facts, and a fun picture. Please check them for yourselves if my counters were either inaccurate or not convincing enough that marijuana isn't the mythical devil grass its wrongfully portrayed as. These are official studies and articles proven to be accurate by thousands of other reviewers and real people. This is not your stereotypical hippie babble, this is the bigger picture for the greater good of society.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/in_the_trenches/2007/aug/06/press_release_marijuana_dealers_#1http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v07/n822/a06.htmhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.htmlhttp://www.hightimes.com/ht/legal/content.php?bid=733&aid=3http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7380http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3106904.ecehttp://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/hja.htmhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/23/thread23135.shtmlhttp://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2148805http://www.concept420.com/marijuana_cannabis_history_timeline.htm