While reading about the first TV marijuana ad, I was reminded of a gripping documentary I caught on BBC last October called “America’s Stoned Kids” which focused on the legalization of the drug in Colorado. It featured Fire Mountain, a residential treatment facility in Boulder, Colorado that caters to kids and teens. In it, the facility president and co-founder spoke about how most of the residents were there for pot. Some were chronic relapsers by the age 14 and were totally dysfunctional because of their use. He believed regulation to be fairly pointless since most are aware of the difference between using a drug to get high and using it for medicinal purposes—as well as the fact that the vast majority of people using marijuana aren’t doing it for the health benefits. (While I know the law states that you have to be over 21 to buy it, the 21-and-over drinking limit certainly hasn’t stopped teenagers from buzzing. And, of course, the more that’s available on the streets, the more will be consumed. Plus, the brain isn’t fully formed until the age of 25.
The Risk of Downplaying Weed’s Downsides
It seems that because everyone is using the words “medicinal” and “legal” alongside the word marijuana lately, the potential harm that this drug is capable of causing keeps being conveniently swept under the carpet. One in four teens that use marijuana will develop a lifelong habit, not to mention move onto harder drugs. While alcohol was my first port of call, within a very short space of time I’d gone onto pot, with harder drugs soon to follow. But despite the relentless warnings from treatment centers like Fire Mountain, yet again it seems that the importance of tax dollars outweighs the importance of America’s health.
So how’s the commercial? In a word: weird. In still others: terribly uninviting. A man dressed as a drug dealer offers pieces of sushi as if they’re drugs. Honestly, it left me feeling like it would be safer to go out find a dealer—any dealer—than call up the Marijuana Doctors. The truth, commercial or not, is that if I wanted weed, the last place I’d go would be to a doctor—especially now it can be bought for recreational purposes over the counter where I can chose whatever grade I want. And though the pot ads may improve, that doesn’t make the product they’re selling any less problematic.
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