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CrashTestDummies:
Why the Anti-Marijuana Ads fall short of proving
ganja = evil
by Mary Jane
We've all seen them. The car crash in slow-motion, the apathetic teen
shooting his friend while playing with a loaded gun, the girl getting
molested at a party, the five year-old whimisically biking around the
McDonald's getting mowed over by a car. The latest include a girl
getting the results of a pregnancy test, and an older brother
tearfully visiting the site where he killed his brother in a car
crash.
And apparently, the use of marjiuana is to blame for all of this.
"It's not as harmless as we all thought" is the tagline, ominous white
text over the somber black screen, proving that the whacky weed
doesn't just help enhance female orgasms, kill the pain of cancer
patients, or spark the appetite of AIDS patients. It KILLS PEOPLE. It
KNOCKS PEOPLE UP. It GETS YOU SHOT. Pretty scary.
What's really scary is the complete lack of logic that goes into an ad
campaign such as this, which, instead of giving you real facts (like
the Truth campaign) or doing anything edgy (like the Truth campaign
again), simply attempts to fearmonger without making any real
hard-hitting points. The truth behind the curtain in these anti-pot
ads is that pot on its own is not to blame for any of the horrific
scenarios they depict.
The crash-test ad, which shows a car crash caused by two crash-test
dummies smoking a joint, makes the hard-hitting point that smoking pot
and then driving a car will impair your judgement. Valid point. But
isn't it true of alcohol as well? And isn't alcohol legal? If you took
a few Vicodin and tried to drive yourself to work, you'd be just as at
risk as if you smoked a bowl before driving to the Pink Floyd laser
light show. The real danger in this situation is driving a car while
under the influence, not being under the influence.
But they've got sitting at home under the influence covered too, as
the two suburban white boys take bong hits in their father's office,
one reaching into the desk, pulling out a gun, asking if it's loaded,
and then shooting his friend. Where's the father? How come he can't
smell the pot smoke? Why is he keeping a loaded gun in his desk? This
ad, except for the smoking bong, looks more like a gun control PSA.
Same with the pregnant teenager anti-pot ad. I thought it was a
Planned Parenthood PSA until the end, when smoking marijuana =
impaired judgement comes up, and then the Harmless? screen. Isn't this
ad, and the one where the girl gets molested at the party after taking
one hit, more about knowing the people you're around if you choose to
do things that impair your judgement? Isn't it about parents
supervising their vulnerable teenagers? Maybe the girl in the ad lived
in a city where they didn't teach sex education in public high
schools, so she didn't know much about condom use.
And back to the ad where the girl gets molested by the boy at the
party after taking a hit of marijuana: surrounding the smoking pipe on
the table are piles and piles of empty beer cans. How can we not be
sure that it wasn't alcohol that truly impaired her judgement?
If you thought Reefer Madness came and went, you're sorely mistaken.
Ad campaigns such as these attempt to shock the viewer to the point
where they don't realize that, if the person smoking pot stayed at
home, didn't play with guns, and wasn't around people who would date
rape them, there would be no evidence to suggest that marijuana
deserves to be portrayed as a demonic narcotic.
You would think this would be common sense, and that the public could
realize that these types of PSAs really hold no bearing. People
recognize with alcohol the need to educate teenagers and people of all
ages about the dangers of drinking and driving, not the evils of
alcohol. That's why there are organizations like SADD and MADD and
free taxis. Because marijuana is not legal, it's a lot easier to use a
weak argument to pull the wool over the eyes of average citizens, and
appeal to their "oh no" instinct with irrelevant information about the
dangers of marijuana in certain situations. I would like to see the
people who do these anti-marijuana PSAs make one that does not
involve: driving high, going to a party where you don't know anyone
high, or shooting a gun while high.
Now that you've read this editorial, pay close attention and
scrutinize the next "Harmless" ad. It's pretty pathetic that, with all
the real problems going on in the world, there is money being spent on
Reefer Madness 2003. The real slogan should be: Advertising: not as
harmless as we all thought.
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