cannabisnews.com: Scrap The Pot and Sex Ads





Scrap The Pot and Sex Ads
Posted by CN Staff on October 03, 2003 at 22:43:15 PT
Editorial
Source: Washington Times 
Taxpayers in the Washington region might not have noticed yet, but their public transit system and the D.C. government are pushing for the legalization of marijuana. Metro and the D.C. Department of Transportation began the pro-marijuana advertisements last month, displaying them on buses and bus shelters. Plans also call for posters to be placed in subway stations. There are several reasons why the ads should be scrapped — the least of which is that they encourage young people to smoke pot and better "enjoy" sex.
The ads are sponsored by an outfit out of Massachusetts called Change the Climate. The organization, not unlike the more familiar group called the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, promotes legalizing pot. The ads in Change the Climate's latest campaign also urge governments to "protect our children" by taxing marijuana. The ads are explicit, misleading viewers to believe that even our soldiers endorse legalizing drugs and condone teen sex. The seeming logic behind the ad campaign is that ... well, that is part of the problem. There are no logical explanations for legalizing marijuana or encouraging teens to engage in sexual activity.   The crux of our problem with the ads is that neither Metro nor D.C. transportation had the moral fortitude to reject them.   Metro sets aside 10 percent of its ad space for nonprofit organizations, a policy that could certainly aid in combating such social ills as teen pregnancy and homelessness. Encouraging youths and adults to break the law on their way to having better sex — however legitimate or illicit that "better" sex might be — wipes out all possible merit in the intent of Metro's ad policy. This isn't even a question of First Amendment rights, as some authorities at Metro have argued. It is a matter of giving the advertiser and/or sponsor a straightforward answer: No.   The forces at work are obvious: people inside Metro and D.C. government who think like people at Change the Climate.   The fact that D.C. voters approved a medical marijuana initiative notwithstanding, the government should not be in the business of encouraging sex or illegal drug use. Mayor Tony Williams and the Metro Board must play their respective leadership roles on this particular issue and pull the ads.   Source: Washington Times (DC)Published: October 03, 2003Copyright: 2003 News World Communications, Inc. Website: http://www.washtimes.com/Contact: letters washingtontimes.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Change The Climatehttp://www.changetheclimate.orgPro-Pot Ads To Be Posted at 10 Metro Stationshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17456.shtmlGood Riddance To Sex-and-Marijuana Ads http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17419.shtmlTrooper Made Poster Boy For Marijuana Billboardhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17279.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by Petard on October 04, 2003 at 18:08:18 PT
That mindless drivel and other ads
Is big business involved in something they can patent and hold exclusive right to and thus make a boatload of cash. THAT my friends is how to get MJ legalized. Get big business involved in a way that THEY can profit in a big way. We all know, and complain about it all the time: that politicians are merely the puppets of big business. Once big business gets behind the movement, all in the name of profit, then they'll pull the strings on their puppets and MJ will be legalized. But without big business behind it the politician puppets will never legalize it.Advertising may be the foot in the door to getting big business involved in the potential monetary profits of MJ. It damn sure beats the monetary incentive we currently have keepng MJ illegal, the prison-industrial complex. I'll take the mindless drivel of bikini clad blondes over that any and every day.According to big business, the human cost means nothing, it's money that matters. Human beings are replaceable parts in the machinery of big business. Money is the grease that makes the system move. Money is the fuel. Advertising is big bucks. Once the advertising machine kicks in, other parts of big business will follow the money trail.I don't like that any better than anyone else. But, that's just the way the system works nowadays. So hail the advertising of MJ in any shape, form, or fashion. Hail the advent of big corporate backing of MJ. Once it's in legally, we can work to fine tune the machine later to add back the human element. Once again, don't fight the system, let it implode under it's own weight, and encourage it to do so.
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Comment #7 posted by Dan B on October 04, 2003 at 17:19:13 PT
Advertising Isn't the Point; Legalization Is
Anything legal or about to be legal SHOULD be advertised, marketed, AGGRESSIVELY. That's what America is all about nowadays.The fact is that Cannabis is not close to being legalized in the United States. Further, if it were close to being legalized in the United States, the last thing we should do is act as though it is a done deal. Behaving that way could easily destroy the fine work that hundreds of thousands of activists have put into the legalization effort over the past thirty years. Further, if cannabis were legalized, advertising of it would be likely remain illegal. Cannabis sells itself, as Commonsense pointed out, and as is evidenced by the fact that is selling better than corn while it is illegal. You may see coffee shops in your lifetime, but I hope we never see the kind of mindless drivel displayed in current beer ads as cannabis commercials.Of all industrialized nations, the United States is least likely to ever consider changing its stance on cannabis, and it certainly isn't going to happen with the current administration. Because of that fact, we must present intelligent arguments in order to sway public opinion. If enough of the voting public decides that cannabis should e legal, the rest will have to follow. But such is not now the case. Further, if cannabis were to be legalized in the U.S., we should still be responsible about our presentation of it as a marketable product. The prohibitionists will not give up just because we will have won a victory, and we don't need to give them a foothold. Dan B
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Comment #6 posted by Petard on October 04, 2003 at 13:07:11 PT
Re: Sex Sells
Sure, sell MJ smoking. It's the American Way. Anything legal or about to be legal SHOULD be advertised, marketed, AGGRESSIVELY. That's what America is all about nowadays. Got a product? Advertise it, market it to a target audience, tell the people exactly what to do as they're too stupid to do anything on their own. If the product requires some legally authorized dealer to distribute permission slips, include the phrase, "ask your supplier", like big pharma does.Hey, if beer get blonde twins, I can't wait to see legal MJ ads featuring blonde triplets. Or maybe a couple of brunettes arguing over "more munchies, less couch lock" while wrestling in a fountain wearing see through blouses and miniskirts. And for you ladies, an all new Marlboro Man all studly and decked out in nothing but leather chaps and an open leather vest rolling up and slowly, sensuously, licking the gummed edge of the paper. How about another new style of credit card key chain featured in a Head Shop add whereby it not only has the scannable magnetic strip, but doubles as a roach clip? Don't leave home without it cuz at Doobie Bros Headshop they don't take......Priceless eh?
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Comment #5 posted by Commonsense on October 04, 2003 at 09:02:10 PT
Re: Sex Sells
But should they really be trying to sell people on smoking marijuana? I thought the main purpose was to sell people on legalizing marijuana. People don't need to be sold on smoking marijuana. That sells itself. What we need to be doing is selling voters and politicians on the marijuana legalization. If we make obvious attempts to sell marijuana smoking, we're just coming off as irresponsible. We're adding credence to the argument that legalizing marijuana will cause a huge jump in the consumption of the drug here in the states, especially among our youth. I'm all for adds trying to "change the climate" for marijuana laws. But I think adds designed to make people want to smoke marijuana are a bad idea. 
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Comment #4 posted by Petard on October 04, 2003 at 08:10:24 PT
Better pull ALL ads then
Sex sells, period. All products and services are sold using some form of sex, or implied sex, to sell the product. Ever seen a fat ugly old misshapen bikini wearer in a beer ad? How about a diet carbonated beverage ad? Better pull the military recruitment ads too, they encourage the use of firearms and killing. Don't forget to pull the recreational drug ads for Viagra, Rogaine, allergy meds against cat and dog dander so "the cat person and dog person" can shack up, think of the message that sends to the kids, it goes against the Judeo-Christian marriage first message. Better pull those clothing ads since those feature sexy teen models exposing their budding anatomies to leering and thus encouraging predation from adults upon teens. But I guess sex and beer, cola, and shacking up, and teen predation are all O.K. as long a people sign up for the military to learn to kill while popping a synthetic chemical pill so they can feel better while the screwed up double standards confuses their malleable minds.
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on October 04, 2003 at 08:10:21 PT:
This is why I was against them
Never, never, never hand ammunition to an idiot with an empty weapon, as he's liable to use it on you. That sex ad was just such ammunition. The antis have plumb run out of convincing lies; Johnny Pee is our best advertisement of that fact. They remind me of the Upper Class Twit Race from Monty Python, totally oblivious to their irrelevency and incompetence. So incompetent, in fact, they can't properly shoot a stake-down rabbit. 87 years of the DrugWar, (Twit Race) they can't do anything right as the answer is so simple they refuse to believe it (staked down rabbit) and the problem just gets worse. But this ad has given them something to mouth off about. I have commented before about how the original perception by the authors of it (poking fun at the Guv'mint's own ads on the subject) would be misperceived by the public at large and that misperception used as one more stereotype to beat us over the head with. We are not dealing with freethinking people, here. For the most part, the vast majority of the target audience seeing those ads works for the Feds. The message could have been tailored more directly...such as how much more money could be saved from the funds currently used to lock up someone for cannabis going into their IRA's or some such. This has allowed for an attack upon us that could be very detrimental. Let the antis shoot themselves in the foot; being essentially a committee, a life form with 6 or more feet and no brain, they have plenty of feet to lose. We only have two. 
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Comment #2 posted by OverwhelmSam on October 04, 2003 at 05:24:47 PT:
So Legalize It!
If everyone is so afraid of the message to the teenagers, then legalzie it! The marijuana legalization campaign celebrates victory then goes back to living their life peacefully.
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Comment #1 posted by Mike on October 03, 2003 at 23:08:43 PT
tap tap tap
** the least of which is that they encourage young people to smoke pot and better "enjoy" sex. **Therefore you should never see the word 'sex' associated with "pot" because people can't be associating good with bad.. or was the intent of this article to mean that sex is to be discouraged as well? Are they concerned "pot" might encourage masturbation at well? That causes blindness you know...
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