Speaking of commercials that piss me off, the anti-marijuana one is pretty bad. What do we have? A teenage couple on a couch at a houseparty. They are passing a pipe back and forth, and getting pretty baked, especially the girl. Eventually, the girl is slumped on the couch and the boy starts reaching into her shirt. Cut to an image of his hand setting the pipe down on the table, while we hear her voice, off-camera, mumbling "No, no." The text on the screen reads, "Marijuana can impair your judgement. Harmless?"
Among my thoughts after seeing this ad on tv;
Who's judgement? His? Hers? Both? To me, there seems to be a bit of blame-the-victim mentality going on here. If she had used better judgement, she wouldn't be date-raped. Secondly, substitute the pipe for a beer can. Is it good for kids to be drinking? No. Is it good to drink to excess? No. Does being drunk make date-rape ok? No. Is responsible alcohol use by adults demonized the way marijuana is? No.
This, of course, brings up the point that we don't really teach kids about responsible alcohol use. They are told not to drink until they turn 21, and not to drive drunk. When they turn 21, they are supposed to magically know how to consume responsibly. (Just like adults, responsibly married of course, will suddenly know everything there is to know about sex.) We all know how well that works. UW-Madison may be a drinking school with a football problem, but it isn't just underagers getting smashed in this town.
Here's a radical concept. Instead of demonizing these things, teach young people how to use them responsibly without trying to scare them. Scare tactics don't work.
Other anti-drug ads that bug me:
Is it loaded? Nah. *BANG! Again, that could just as easily be an anti-alcohol ad, a gun control ad, or an anit-stupidity ad. Instead in claims marijuana as the cause for shootings. Look at a Google search for accidental shooting marijuana. Most of the accidental shooting mentioned were by police. Hmmmm.
There is another ad, a radio spot featuring a stoned-out babysitter and her boyfriend, but I can't find that on online right now.
I'm not a pot smoker, but I do know that it can be used responsibly. I am highly in favor of cutting out the bullshit.
