cannabisnews.com: Billboards Aim To Snuff Teen Use of Marijuana


cannabisnews.com: Billboards Aim To Snuff Teen Use of Marijuana 










  Billboards Aim To Snuff Teen Use of Marijuana 

Posted by FoM on December 23, 2000 at 08:42:40 PT
By Scott Huddleston, Express-News Staff Writer  
Source: Express-News  

About 80 billboards, including 20 in San Antonio, have started going up across Texas to discourage marijuana use after a recent survey found a drop in the number of teen-agers who view the illegal hemp as dangerous."What we're hoping is that it will generate questions or discussions between parents and children, so they can discuss real dangers of marijuana," said Kirk Cole, public information officer with the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
The Partnership for a Drug-Free Texas, a nonprofit group funded by the commission, began putting up the billboards earlier this month in 10 urban areas, including San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. About 60 of the billboards were used in 1999 in Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso, Houston and Laredo.In the commission's recent survey of 127,380 Texas students in grades 7 to 12, 13.7 percent said they had used marijuana in the past month, compared with 15.2 percent in 1998. Nearly one-third said they had used the drug at least once.Commission officials were concerned by survey results that showed 62 percent of students believed marijuana was dangerous compared to 76 percent who considered the drug dangerous in 1992."We're very pleased that the agency's most recent school survey shows a decline in marijuana use," Jay Kimbrough, the commission's executive director, said in a news release. "However, we remain concerned by the number of young people who don't think marijuana is a dangerous substance. We hope this media campaign encourages kids and their parents to talk about the harmful effects of this drug."Amid San Antonio's revolving door of fad drugs such as speed and ecstasy, marijuana is a regular staple — second only to alcohol — of teen-age drug users."Alcohol is No. 1. It's more accessible and easiest to get. Then comes marijuana," said Sharon Shook, executive director of the San Antonio Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. A study by the commission of local police reports from 1993-99 found the percentage of juveniles who tested positive for marijuana after being arrested in San Antonio rose from 24 percent to 53 percent among males and from 10 percent to 24 percent among females.When a 1998 survey asked local students if they ever had used marijuana, 43 percent in the Northside School District said yes. So did 40 percent of students in the Judson and Harlandale districts. The percentage reporting use in the previous month ranged from 18 percent in Judson to 20 percent in Northside and 23 percent in Harlandale.Marijuana is known to contain more carcinogens than tobacco and to harm respiratory, reproductive and immune systems, according to the commission. It is a psychologically addictive drug that causes lethargy and problems with mental concentration and short-term memory.Advertising space was donated for the billboards, which depict a hand-written yellow note on the left side saying, in tongue-in-cheek style, "We asked some pot smokers to come up with something clever for this billboard." The rest of the billboard is blank.Cole said the goal of the ad is to disprove a perception that marijuana, though viewed as less harmful than other drugs, is not dangerous, especially for teen-agers."We wanted to be sure we address that issue" with the billboard campaign, he said.Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)Author: Scott Huddleston, Express-News Staff WriterPublished: December 23, 2000Copyright: 2000 San Antonio Express-NewsContact: letters express-news.netWebsite: http://www.expressnews.com/CannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml

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Comment #13 posted by kathleen wedzik on December 26, 2000 at 15:05:33 PT:

IT IS TIME TO COME OUT OF YOUR CLOSET!!!!!
to all the people of the world who have ever had to live in a closet for one reason or another.Will the marijuana smokers ever get to come out of their closets.When I was growing up, being "gay" was something you did not admit to, so you kept it to yourself. Gay people lived in closets for a long time.Today we have happy gays because they don't have to pretend anymore that they are something they are not.Marijuana smokers should be allowed to come out of their closets without being discriminated against.To a happier America that respects individuality. PEACE.....
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Comment #12 posted by freedom fighter on December 24, 2000 at 09:42:19 PT

another good quote
Legalize Cannabis
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Comment #11 posted by Lehder on December 23, 2000 at 21:46:57 PT

quote for billboard
"Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess."-Edwin Land
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Comment #10 posted by mungojelly on December 23, 2000 at 21:32:49 PT:

I suggest Carl Sagan
Oh man oh man are they asking for it! Think of how many graf artists are salivating over the possibilities presented by a big blank space reserved (they said so themselves) for the clever comments of pot smokers. To any such artists reading this: I strongly suggest Carl Sagan. Don't get angry; don't do any commentary; just under "We asked some pot smokers to come up with something clever for this billboard" write very neatly: "We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever." - Carl Sagan or "The cannabis experience has greatly improved my appreciation for art, a subject which I had never much appreciated before." - Carl Sagan or "Sometimes a kind of existential perception of the absurd comes over me and I see with awful certainty the hypocrisies and posturing of myself and my fellow men." - Carl Sagan 
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on December 23, 2000 at 19:03:34 PT:

Thanks again, Observer
The "Change the Climate" website is the kind of website I've been looking for: a balanced view of the matter of MJ and young people. A shame that the antis never list any links to reformer sites; this one puts a very big crimp in their hypocritical style.
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Comment #8 posted by MikeEEEEE on December 23, 2000 at 18:35:45 PT

real dangers of marijuana
The real dangers of marijuana are the harsh laws they're under here in Amerika.
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Comment #7 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on December 23, 2000 at 12:26:09 PT:

A Derisive Laugher
"Partnership for a Drug-Free Texas"If these hypocrites had any integrity at all, they'd be going after alcohol and tobacco. But, not, those are acceptable to Texas society, at the moment. Historically, there is no consistency in morals or drug policy. 
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Comment #6 posted by observer on December 23, 2000 at 11:04:35 PT

Reichspropaganda
 Advertising space was donated for the billboards, Thanks for mentioning this. Another fact never mentioned by the propagandists attacking "Soros' money". How much would all that have cost? Do the companies get to write that off (of course). So, the taxpayers again have money stolen from them to finance this "public service" (and the public indeed gets "serviced" in this instance). which depict a hand-written yellow note on the left side saying, in tongue-in-cheek style, "We asked some pot smokers to come up with something clever for this billboard." The rest of the billboard is blank. Oh, ha ha!  Were the "some pot smokers" asked ones there were among the 700,000 arrested each year, and who are in prison and not able to piddle with propaganda at the moment, perhaps? Maybe it was a "pot smoker" like Ismael Mena, or young Alberto Sepulveda or a "smoker" like Patrick Dorismond, or Donald Scott, or Esequiel Hernandez, who, shall we say "can't come to the phone right now", namely, because they were all murdered by drug warriors, for being wicked "pot smokers", and are presently six feet under.This must also explain why drug warriors can't debate those of us who want traditional freedoms restored...http://www.google.com/search?q=drcnet.org+McCaffrey+debateCole said the goal of the ad is to disprove a perception that marijuana, though viewed as less harmful than other drugs, is not dangerous, especially for teen-agers. Nah: this ad's goal is to ridicule scapegoats ("pot smokers"): nothing about "teens" etc in that ad. It is to feed and encourage stereotypes and hate. Imagine the livid reaction that PC propaganda paper would have if the ad read, "We asked some _____s (some racial minority) to come up with something clever for this billboard"? Try to picture the righteous indignation of the talking heads on the six o'clock news to that one, and you have an idea of the hate and hypocrisy that underpins this propaganda campaign.Also, that song and dance involves another straw man: no one has asserted that marijuana is "harmless", etc.see:Is marijuana really harmless, like everyone has been saying?http://www.marijuananews.com/is_marijuana_really_harmless.htm "We wanted to be sure we address that issue" with the billboard campaign, he said. The propagandists wanted to be sure to demonize adults who use cannabis, as stupid and unworthy of having rights as ordinary citizens. It is the classic propaganda technique of ridicule.seehttp://www.google.com/search?q=propaganda+technique+ridiculeThis technique was pioneered by the Nazis and communists for use in their propaganda, to demonize their enemies, early in the 20th century.seehttp://www.netbistro.com/electriczen/propagandaposter.htmlFor example, compare the way these Partnership posters depict "the pot smoker" with the way this Nazi poster depicts "The Eternal Jew":http://www.netbistro.com/electriczen/documents/ewige.htmlFor information on another series of advertisments, a series that really does address teens and marijuana in a responsible and honest way, see:http://www.changetheclimate.org/ 
Change The Climate
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Comment #5 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on December 23, 2000 at 10:45:20 PT

Obvious baldfaced lie
  Perhaps this lie, printed in a gigantic font, could be used to raise discussion about other lies which are gigantic not because of their font...  I mean, does anybody - ANYBODY, even the people on the damn COMMISSION - honestly believe that they really did ask pot smokers to contribute to this billboard? From there, it's only a small conversational step to the congressional hearings when it was first illegalized after they didn't listen to what the A.M.A. had to say.   "Never underestimate the power of denial." -- American Beauty (a movie where the pot smokers had quite a bit to say!)
http://www.pot-tv.net/
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Comment #4 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on December 23, 2000 at 10:20:22 PT

This Space Intentionally Not Left Blank
>>"Alcohol is No. 1. It's more accessible and easiest to get. Then comes marijuana,"  Unless you're underage, in which case it's easier to get pot, because the people who sell it don't card you. They COULD check ID and not sell to underage people - and someday they will, when it's not a black market item any more. (What was the minimum drinking age during Prohibition?)>>Marijuana is known to contain more carcinogens than tobacco and to harm respiratory, reproductive and immune systems, according to the commission. It is a psychologically addictive drug that causes lethargy and problems with mental concentration and short-term memory.  According to the COMMISSION, it also puts hair on your palms, curves your spine, and will lose the war for the allies. It turns blacks and mexicans into communist red-eyed killer rapists, who kidnap the daughters of White America and dilute our racial purity and eat our puppies. According to their studies, anyway...  "Marijuana causes insanty... in non-smokers," said Tim Leary. I've known non-smokers to take away patients medicines, to lock up non-violent people while releasing murderers onto the street, and to beat people senseless for just speaking their minds. Perhaps the anti's should use this argument. "Don't smoke pot, it makes us crazy!" Maybe that's been their basic argument all along...  Of course, compared to some of the things kids turn to for intoxicating effect - glue, gasoline, heroin - you'd think they'd be more than happy to see their kid smoking pot. Thanks for nothing, Donna Shalala...>>Advertising space was donated for the billboards, which depict a hand-written yellow note on the left side saying, in tongue-in-cheek style, "We asked some pot smokers to come up with something clever for this billboard." The rest of the billboard is blank.  Don't fear, I don't think that space will be left blank for long. (How much spray paint would it take to change the words "pot smokers" to "prohibitionists"?)  And this all reminds me of the opening of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, and the sign that says, "Don't gamble with marijuana! In Vegas - possession=20 years, sale=life!"... as the great red shark flies past at 115mph crammed to the gills with an incredibly wide variety of illicit intoxicants.  Below is a link to a page with actual Nazi propaganda, not this quasi-Nazi stuff. I'd also like to find a detailed book on the rise and fall of alcohol prohibition in the USA. Our situation today is not without its historical paralells, and one should study these parallels so that we don't repeat any historical mistake. (Of course, isn't that what we're fighting against?) Another interesting era of historical persecution which bears interesting reading is anything on Joseph McCarthy...
Actual Nazi Propaganda
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Comment #3 posted by fivepounder on December 23, 2000 at 10:18:40 PT

This is sure to backfire
Anyone got a can of spray paint? Hypocrisy is harder to fake when its in your face. This would be interesting to follow. I can see it now, "Drug crazed people on marijuana caught throwing paint ballons at billboards." or :The local pro pot people have hit again at the billboard on Main, no one arrested" or better yet " Spontaneous pot smoke-in takes place under new pot billboard on Oak"
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Comment #2 posted by aocp on December 23, 2000 at 10:12:13 PT:

WTF?!?
>Amid San Antonio's revolving door of fad drugs such as speed and ecstasy, marijuana is a regular staple — second only to alcohol — of teen-age drug users.So lemme get this incredibly-insightful statement some breathing room, d'ac? WHY are these bass-ackwards texans NOT going after booze, then??? They admit right above that it is a WORSE problem than MJ!!! "I gots it fellas ... let's pour money into solving the SECOND-WORSE problem we got with our teens! Why don't we go after the WORST one, you ask? Why, suh, you must be a MJ junkie! Git 'im!" Or something like that. What an incredible group of morons.
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Comment #1 posted by Stripey on December 23, 2000 at 09:31:59 PT

Grrr.
"We asked some pot smokers to come up with something clever for this billboard." The rest of the billboard is blank.Makes you wish lynch mobs were still around. . ."Marijuana is known to contain more carcinogens than tobacco and to harm respiratory, reproductive and immune systems, according to the commission."Yeah, so do cigarettes. . . That's the "smoking" part. . . how come they never do MJ studies on teh people that eat more than they smoke. . . I know a few folks like that. . . (a small few. . . =)"It is a psychologically addictive drug. . ."Yeah, but it's not as psychologically addictive as nicotine is physically. . . You take away a bro's ganj, he'll be pissed, but he's not going to go nuts. . . You strip cigarettes from a 3-packer, and they can get pretty darn mean. ESPECIALLY if they know you're hiding their carton . . .". . . that causes lethargy and problems with mental concentration and short-term memory."During the high yeah. . . That's like saying alcohol causes spousal abuse and problems with trying to beat people up.You know, some more thoughts on that billboard thing. . . I wonder how many advertizing execs that make billboards that sell millions of dollars of merchandise smoke a little MJ on the weekends. . . probably a helluva lot more than you think. . . But geez, a comment like that really has to piss you off. . .
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