cannabisnews.com: MJ Opponents Concede Pot has Gone Mainstream
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MJ Opponents Concede Pot has Gone Mainstream
Posted by CN Staff on August 05, 2014 at 05:01:41 PT
By Christopher Ingraham
Source: Washington Post
USA -- Last week, the New York Times ran a six-part editorial series advocating for the national legalization of marijuana. In response, advocacy groups on either side of the legalization debate took out dueling full-page advertisements in the paper. Conflicting messages aside, the ads are notable for what they agree on: that marijuana use has officially moved out of the basement and into the boardroom.I've placed them side-by-side for comparison below — click through for larger versions.
URL: http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2014/08/ads.jpgLeafly is a Web site and app billing itself as a "cannabis information resource" — AdAge characterizes it as "Yelp for information about legal cannabis." Their "Just Say Know" campaign (left) congratulates New York state on the passage of the Compassionate Care Act, which was signed into law last month and made the state the 23rd to legalize medical marijuana.The ad promotes "making informed choices" as the "first step in benefitting from cannabis." It purports to show two medical marijuana patients: well-dressed "Ian" stands in front of a brownstone looking thoughtful with a newspaper tucked under his arm, as a fit and well-motivated "Molly" jogs past. The optics are decidedly upper-middle class and the message is clear: Marijuana users are just like you and me.On the other side, GrassIsNotGreener's message (right) features a headshot of an affable stoner in colorful stoner garb superimposed over a figure of a man in a suit leaning aggressively over a conference room table. For all we know it could be Ian under there. The ad warns of "an entirely new group of corporations whose primary source of revenue is a highly habit-forming product." The message here is that the marijuana industry is evolving from Cheech and Chong to RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris.Setting aside the merits of the individual messages for the moment, the ads, and the Times editorial that preceded them, mark a turning point in the debate over marijuana in this country. The two sides are in agreement that marijuana has moved out of the counterculture and into the mainstream.This represents a victory of sorts for the pro-legalization camp, which has long struggled to change public perception of marijuana from "something that hippies and bored teenagers do" to "something that regular Americans do." By placing the face of legal marijuana in a corporate boardroom, the GrassIsNotGreener ad essentially concedes this point.The anti-legalization camp now finds itself in the midst of an awkward pivot. Having argued for decades that marijuana is a pastime of aimless losers living in their parents' basements, it is now trying to position itself as a David against a slick, well-oiled and well-funded corporate Goliath. I suspect it'll be a tough sell. What do you think?Christopher Ingraham is a data journalist focusing primarily on issues of politics, policy and economics. He previously worked at the Brookings Institution and the Pew Research Center.Source: Washington Post (DC) Author: Christopher IngrahamPublished: August 4, 2014Copyright: 2014 Washington Post CompanyContact: letters washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/UNPRbDx7CannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 05, 2014 at 18:26:01 PT
Afterburner
You're very welcome!
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on August 05, 2014 at 13:27:48 PT:
Their in-house poll says it all
Which advertisement do you find more convincing?At the time of this entry, Leafly, with 83.24%. GING's was barely 6%...and who do you think were its supporters? Probably those whose livelihood is threatened by re-legalization.How many times must the prohibs be taken to the woodshed and have their arses whupped until they bleed? Are they masochists, or something?
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on August 05, 2014 at 09:45:06 PT
And Especially
Thank you, FoM & Stick for keeping this site alive and championing truth!
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on August 05, 2014 at 09:40:51 PT
Don't Rest on your Laurels Yet!
Keep writing those LTEs. Keep marching to the voting booth. Keep signing those petitions. Keep commenting on those online and newspaper articles. Keep discussing the issues with friends, family and coworkers.We've come a long way, but there a many battles yet to be won. We must include home-grown to keep the price down, the quality up and a free society alive.A change of Congress and the Presidency could reinforce gains or install another set of deadly traps. Thank you, everyone for your energy, effort and support.
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Comment #1 posted by JohnOBonno on August 05, 2014 at 07:44:22 PT:
Ads showing desheveled hippies in the boardroom
It seems pretty desparate to me. Continually raising the idea that all cannabis users are mindless, useless, or in some way socially irrelevant, has already failed to work for the prohibitionists. In many way, the stoner mentality has become mainstream. A very large majority now believe in freedom and peace. What lies can you tell that will induce anyone to abandon their own interests? This will fail, and freedom for cannabis will prevail. Peace!
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