Marijuana No Longer Focus of Anti-Drug Campaigns
CBS News Examination Finds Prescription Drugs Are Seen as Bigger Threat Than Marijuana by Government, Non-Profit Groups
[Editor’s note: Hallelujah!]
By Elizabeth Sprague
Over the last several years, without many people realizing it, the U.S. government has changed the focus of its anti-drug efforts, deemphasizing marijuana in favor of prescription drugs.
A CBS News survey of government and nonprofit anti-drug groups has found a retreat from anti-marijuana campaigns over the past several years as prescription and over the counter drug abuse has grown amongst teens.
In fact, the Partnership for a Drug Free America, the nation’s largest creator of anti-drug messages, hasn’t produced a single anti-marijuana public service advertisement since 2005.
The change comes as a result of the decline in marijuana use amongst teens, and growing worry over the abuse of prescription drugs. Marijuana use has been declining for 10 years and past-month use is down 25 percent since 2001 according to the largest tracking study in the U.S., “Monitoring the Future” by the University of Michigan.
Meanwhile prescription drug abuse has held steady over the past five years according to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, with nearly one in five teens (19 percent) abusing prescription medications to get high.
“There is a new threat in town,” Robert Dennisoton of the Office of National Drug Control Policy said.
The concern about pills has been highlighted by a string of high profile deaths like that of Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, and possibly Michael Jackson — all tied to the abuse of legal prescription drugs.
In an effort to spread awareness about the dangers of the misuse of prescription drugs, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America even refers to young people today as “Generation Rx” in TV advertisements that point to the dangers of misuse of those drugs.
“For this generation, high prevalence of prescription drug abuse was kicking in… there was a dawning, and a number of us began to feel that we need to do something about it,” said Sean Clark, executive vice president with the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy, the government’s drug policy wing, now dedicates all of its campaign resources directed at parents – some $14 million dollars since 2008 – to the abuse of prescription and over the counter drugs.
“The issue of prescription drug abuse, which the Office of National Drug Control Policy has been shouting about from the rooftops, it is a significant problem in this country,” National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske said on “The Early Show” last week.
Advocates for marijuana legalization argue that the shift from anti-marijuana to anti-pill messages has come at least in large part because prescription and over the counter medicines are far more deadly than marijuana.
“While it is the most widely used illicit drug, it is much less dangerous than prescription drugs,” said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project, a group that supports marijuana legalization.
“The government is talking about the dangers of acetaminophen – this stuff is given out like candy and can kill,” he said. “When you put it in that context, marijuana almost looks benign.”
The addictiveness of marijuana – or lack thereof – compared to other drugs is also cited by supporters.
“The bottom line is the Opiates and Stimulates are much more addictive than marijuana, those that try it are likely to return to them after first use.” said Mitch Earleywine, associate professor of psychology at the State University of New York. “Maybe 9 percent of marijuana users develop problems but 14-23 percent of prescription drug abusers end up saying can’t quit or report withdrawal when they want to stop.”
Advocates also point to recently-released data obtained by the Web site ProCon.org which indicates that prescription drugs are responsible for far more deaths than marijuana.
The report compared data on deaths due to marijuana with FDA-approved medications. It found that the approved drugs — which included anti-psychotics, Attention Deficit Disorder medications, painkillers and other prescription drugs — were suspected as the primary cause of 10,008 deaths and as a secondary cause in 1,679 more.
Marijuana, on the other hand, was the primary suspect in zero deaths and a suspected secondary factor in 279 deaths.
Another report recently issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement indicated that prescription drugs caused more deaths than illicit drugs – even including alcohol-related automobile accidents. Prescription drugs were the cause of more than 25 percent of drug related deaths in the state. Marijuana was not listed as a cause of death last year in Florida.
There are now more new abusers of prescription drugs each year than there are abusers of marijuana, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from the Department of Health and Human Services. About 2.15 million people started using prescription pain relievers to get high in 2007, while 2.09 million people started using marijuana that year.
This story was written by Elizabeth Sprague as part of a new CBSNews.com special report on the evolving debate over marijuana legalization in the U.S. Click here for more of the series, Marijuana Nation: The New War Over Weed.
This is good news. I’m glad to know they are focusing on deadly substances instead of ones that are safe.
This rules! One step closer to making the ignorant people who are against Marijuana know that it is not as bad as they think. I can see weed being legalized already!
I expect the US government and Prohibitionists to apologize to all the victims of the failed War on Drugs by legalizing marijuana at Federal level through and through!!!
Stop 21st century slavery end the war on drugs!!!
CFJ
Another small step… =]
Well I Think Its to Late i bet ovr half of america abuses pills.Hell all my friends use em n drink on them. What a way to feel lol n u might not wake up either.I think i stick to the usual n pack a bowl,or roll a joint atleast i know i’ll wake up.So I wanna tell all pot smokers medicinal,n recreational,to keep rollin the joints,blunts n keep ur bowls n bongs packed tight were fukin in it to win it no turning back
See, This just reinforces everything I personally believe in , STAY AWAY FROM DRUGS ! SUPPORT CANNABIS REFORM NOW !
They should have just focused on pills from the beginning.
Legalize it!
Sanctioned drugs kill thousands and yet marijuana is still illegal and is virtually harmless. Side effects include: sleepy, hungry and happy. The times they are a changing.
I dont believe it! Our leaders admitting there is something wrong with pharms? Not so worried about cannabis anymore? holy crap! whats that bright orange thing in the sky?…..Oh ya its the sun!
Politicians keep saying that they won’t stand behind legalization because it will hurt their reputation, even though they, and the majority of the population that votes for them, understand that it is pointless to incriminate someone for possesing such a harmless drug… I’m lost.
And that only took how many years to finally admit that?
Like we did not know this… We have been telling people this for a while yet they still push pills legally while MJ is illegal and has never killed any one. May be now they will listen to the citizens of this fine nation and actually legalize MJ instead of continuing to push man made drugs like pills on people. We see on a daily basses commercials promoting pills which the pharmaceutical companies put out legally which is simply put on our nation a legal drug dealer who the govt. supports yet keeps mj in prohibition and illegal which is safer than any drug that these legal drug dealers (pharmaceutical companies) promote that kills Americans daily . MJ should be legalized and taxed where Mexico’s drug cartels would not be allowed continue to be, in the words of the Justice Department’s National Drug Threat Assessment for 2009, “the greatest drug-trafficking threat to the United States.” And restore American rights which is being violated daily through prohibition.
I have a few thoughts I’d like to convey:
As I read the post on many of the blogs we see here,it is great that there are so many patriots here doing their best to speak whats in their minds and hearts. Many of us are very good a conveying those thoughts ,some of us not as good(I being one). As escentric and emotional as some of use may be at times,we all do so with good intent. You all know why you are here fighting this fight.Here is may reason.
I hate politcs,and have avoided it for years like the plague. This fight is entenched in politics. I was selfish at first in my reason for fighting this law. Then my father died of cancer. I seen first hand what these pharmacuticals did to him and have done to many millions of our loved ones.That started me on the right reason for this fight.
Then as many of you know,our economy took a big dump. I seen the hypocracy and lies of those that lead us and in many ways they are reponsible for this collapse. As I have looked for answers for both the injustice of the drug war and the loss of freedoms due to it,I realized it was also connected to the econmoic collapse. I see that its all connected to our leaders and those who keep their pockets full. Its all the lust for money and power. THIS MY FELLOW PATRIOTS WILL RUIN US ALL!! IT MUST BE STOPPED SOME HOW!!
As I stated before…I hate politics! But they(our leaders) have forced me to pay attention. They have forced all of us to pay attention.
I am here because they have forced me into this fight.
Why are all of you here?
“hasn’t produced a single anti-marijuana public service advertisement since 2005.”
might not have produced once in a long time, but i still see them aired over television all the time.. and i can’t recall any anti-prescription commercials.
btw a lot of places are refusing to play the pro-marijuana ads norml made
It makes me feel a little better that they’re starting to focus on “pills” (a true danger) rather than waste time and money lying about pot. I can support a policy that has common sense.
having been on prescribed pain meds for 10+ years i can attest to the clear dangers associated with taking lots of pills, having quit taking norcos 7 months ago(which was not easy i was up to 16 pills a day withdraw symptoms were insane) and switching to medical marijuana my life is much healthier feeling. the war on drugs approach to marijuana prohibition is a destructive policy which failed with alcohol and has failed again. in short, i am all for legalizing and taxing marijuana.
For decades, government-backed legal drugs, many of which are highly addictive and extremely lethal, have been promoted to cure every conceivable ailment and non-ailment, real or imagined. Government should get out of the drug business, promoting or prohibiting any, and allow people to live their lives as they see fit. The best information I know of suggests people would be best off never using any drugs, except the absolute minimum required, after careful consultation with the best medical authority available, when medical necessity clearly outweighs a medicine’s harmful side effects, that all have. In the final analysis, it is the individual who chooses to use or not use drugs, and that individual is fully accountable and totally responsible for desisions made or not made. My doctor does not decide what drugs I consume or do not consume. I do. My doctor recommends based on training and experience, but I alone decide. Please keep in mind a doctor will kill you with drugs, and they’re doing the best they can trying to help. Happens all the time. Drugs do have other than medical use, and again, promoting or prohibiting any is absolutely none of the government’s business. It is my body and my business, neither of which are the government’s.
Yeah I know first hand that prescription drugs are nothing more than a legal addiction. I take morphine everyday for my pain yes I do need it for the pain but I addmit that some days are not as bad as others so I do not need the morphine pill but if I do not take it I feel like crap maybe not the frist day but definantly the second day. It is all bullsh*t I can not smoke a j or a bowl to eleviate my pain. Instead I have to take a pill that cost 20 dollars or more everyday so I can either have less pain that day or I have to take it so I don’t get the withdrawl symtoms. Legalizing MJ is the best idea that I have ever heard and I pray everyday that it happens soon because when it does we are not going to have to worrie so much about kids or adults taking prescription drugs because the drug companies are going to go down in my opinion. I will be the first one to throw my pills down the toilet and smoke me a nice J so I can continue with my day. I will be pain free and happy. I will get off my soap box who is next.
I’m Glad that this is happening however there is a dark side to this these drugs are soon may be put in the same class as marijuana making the war on drugs stronger my point is that this war is a war on our personal freedom i say if some wants to take drugs till there theeth fall out of there head let them we have the right to live a life of happiness and as a “free” land it should if some one wants to live a life of suffering then it there right putting a new enamy on the wars list will not the way to stop the war…..
Well boys and girls, I think we might see some light at the end of the tunnel. They just come to realize what we been telling them for years. Hooray!!
Finally some common knowledge gets out. We’ve all known these things for decades.
To #14 the reason I am here and have been trying to get prohibition lifted for so long ( since 1975)is due to the way this law was brought about. Please read and study the history of this and you will find that reefer madness and the Spanish word MARIJUANA were tools used by Harry Anslinger, Randolf Hearst and DuPont to fool the people in Washington into believing that cannabis would make you a drug crazed maniac of some sort. They said that only blacks,Mexicans and entertainers(jazz musicians and the sort)used the stuff. So this law was based on lies,racial prejudice and greed. I am still surprised that anyone can defend this terrible policy that has ruined millions of lives in the US and is responsible for thousands of deaths in Mexico, Columbia Thailand and many other drug exporting countries.
Let us all hope that this issue continues to be brought into the light of day and examined for what it is. The single worst law this country has passed in its history. The truth rolls on!!!
To speak to R.O.E.’s post (#14); ALL of the problems today stem directly from politics. The primary reason that Cannabis is illegal is because William Randolph Hearst KNEW that Cannabis, more specifically industrial hemp, would destroy his lumber & paper business. . .so he puts pressure on the politicians to make it illegal.
Fast forward over the years and you hear the same tired propoganda from Anslinger, Presidents Nixon & Reagan, stating that pot is so evil and it must be stopped blah,blah,blah.
To add even greater insult to injury: you have Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”, a movie that “inconveniently” left out the actual “truth”: Industrial Hemp would significantly reduce deforestation. And quite frankly, most would agree that the Cannabis community are the most environmentally friendly and “green” consumers in the world. . .if you really want to save the planet and go “Green”, you must first legalize the “green”.
To wrap it up, back to your comment about the economy; you’re 1000% right on the money!! The economy is in the toilet, and the reason: FAILED POLITICS!!
Legalization of Drugs WORLDWIDE would create the economic equivilent of “the big bang” with regard to each of the World’s major economies. Crime would plummet, industry would boom and productivity would most definitely increase.
The key to legalization is BALANCE: we need leaders in congress like Dr. Ron Paul: LIBERTARIANS that are dedicated to limited government, financial conservatism, social liberalism and greater personal freedom and liberty.
The congressional (mid-term) elections are coming up next year, and I encourage R.O.E. and everyone else that is fed-up with “business as usual” in Washington D.C. to vote your conscience and take back your freedom.
STOP THE MADNESS!!
LEGALIZE NOW!!!!!!
I’ll believe the government has shifted their focus (as opposed to the message) to Rx drugs when the number of arrests for Rx drug law violations begins to approach that of marijuana users.
[Editor’s note: Excellent point! To put the disparity of cannabis vs. pharmaceutical arrests per year, check out the table near the bottom of the FBI UCR from 2007, indicating that about 50% of all drug related arrests are for cannabis, while only about 4% for the drugs made by legal drug ‘pushers’.]
Their own monster has turned on them and I mean the all mighty pill industry. In 1937 marijuana was made illegal so Americans would have to buy pills instead of using marijuana as a medicine. Experience is the best teacher and those of us who have used marijuana for physical and mental support know the truth about marijuana’s medicinal cures and comforts. Ain’t life grand?
The future to all this is a major tolerance and respect for the general drug user. In the future the pot smoker will be looked upon as smart on drugs. We outlaw drug use and we sell it everyday at Safeway. Someday soon since we can no longer pretend to be not prejudice, pot smokers are going to look like saints compared how freaky it has become since prohibition.
Progress lies with the truth. The truth is cannabis has been demonized to kill the hippie not the drug. Nixon blamed ‘drugs’ for the resistance. Now marijuana looks like candy!
@ #27 Jeedi: I feel that exact same way. I hope by then our country (and the world in general) will realized the evils of prohibition and how it literally cost the lives and livelihoods of so many of its victims so needlessly. By then, I feel that the power to decide things will shift directly towards the general population as information technology becomes more and more advanced. Those who profit from the War on US Citizens can no longer hide behind lies and fears no longer! Fact and Truth will set us free! Keep up the good fight everyone!
Lookin good. I wonder tho wen did they make that one anti pot commercial where the kids jumpin thru the cardboard cutout ending with him denying a joint. Or the one where the kid gets all those voices on his shoulder telin him not to smoke? Its new. O well progress is occuring
Talk about ironic… Trillions spent, thousands dead most innocent ppl just doing their normal daily routine, cartels given so much power that they can basically run our southern neighbors entire country,( Truly i would of preferred Capone to any cartel or anti government leader now a days, at least Capone attempted to keep his business quite and out of site) on illegal drug fighting and now it seems that the drugs they were pushing will now be the true end of the “War on Drugs”, Man do i feel bad for those pharmacist when the SWAT teams start breaking in. At least we as regular citizens were getting used to it (Once the DEA and Police get convicted for planting drugs on an elderly lady things begin to go numb) now even small business and corporate America will be feeling it on a regular basis. What will future generations say about our era? Political and Federal employees telling citizens what to use as “medicine”, Training their employees that “Medicinal Marijuana” is not medicine, telling doctors they are wrong for prescribing “Medicine” which although denied to the FDA for true testing is being proven by independent companies and facilities around the world. Not for nothing my heart honestly bleed for the true doctors of America within the next few years the only prescription available will be “take 6shots of 151 when you get home and if you wake up call me in the morning”. Once the government get frustrated “controlling the controlled substances” what will be pushed up to sched 1? Everything except liquor and placebos, damn doesn’t the future seem bright for America, and please remember this is only one aspect about what is happening in America lets remember: Rights of the individual to privacy, Budgets all wonderful kinds going to hell in a hand basket, Basic human rights taken away at judges whims, poverty on the rise, Pain institutions denying medicine because of use of prescribed marijuana, US dollar is not the most sought after currency anymore although we owe lots and lots, and so much more that i wont even bother mentioning. Good luck America and god bless every citizen that will soon get to live through the blaze of tortured moments to come. Thank heavens for the second amendment I think we might being needing that. Just my thoughts, ty for your time
OK, they caught a hint, Now it’s the Governments turn. Try this, I’m payed up till next month,on all my bill’s or not. I’m taking this next month off, this means NO tax for YOU! So let’s get together and see what happens. Maybe this will start a fire that will burn out the bad in this country, as we throw water of protection on our home’s and gas of discontent on the bonfire of Government and they will bend to the WILL of the PEOPLE. All I want is to live free and without the fear instilled by the powers that be, from the flunky cop in a box to those guy’s in there little district of D.C., to the big bankers that own the corporate people of this Country we hold so dear to our life, liberty, and property!! Choice is your, live the way it is and will continue to be, OR do something then, gather your Will that GOD gave you, and hold these truths self evident. GOD, ME, then YOU, is the order of authority, not to be any other EVER…PEACE!!! AL..
This is how bad it gets. We need “medical marijuana” clinics to give people a license to get high because foolish people are scared of cannabis. Now the real problem turns out to be “legitimate” prescription drugs being abused by people to get high.
Both cocaine and heroine were once available as legal drugs. Meth (Amphetamine) was once prescribed as a diet pill.
the whole pharma opiates is a ploy to innoculate the nations junkies against afghan heroin………
The fact that they are attacking doctors for prescribing medication they think is needed is just as bad as attacking the pot laws… How bout parents start parenting if this is such a big problems with teens? Lets let people be responsible for their own actions as long as it isn’t virul(aids like) to others eh…
Matt W. @ #24:
I do absolutely plan to vote for ‘green’ canadates.
It never occured to me about the gore statement. I mean I have thought fields of hemp growing would be good for the enviroment, what is it, One acre of hemp produces 4x the oxygen than one acre of trees? Ya where is Al Gore on this? Oh ya making money on global warming and soon cap and trade..I mean cap and tax the hell out of us.
I’m sick to death of seeing politicains tax the hell out of us just to spend more and more. Obama said he wasnt going to tax us then turned around and pulled this cap and tax shit.
I have some VERY good qestions for the P.D.F.A. q#1- if that is the case- then WHATS WITH THE TALKING DOG COMMERCIAL OR THE WHAT PICTURE YOU SHOULDN’T FIT INTO COMMERCIALS THEY HAPPENED TO BE QUITE FOCUSSED ON MARRIJUANA FROM MY POINT OF VIEW!!!!!!!!! AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO QUESTIONS THIS ???????????
LEGALIZE IT!!!!!!!!!!
#15 bromontana Says:
July 15th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
“… i can’t recall any anti-prescription commercials….”
RE:
– An anti-prescription commercial
would be VERY EASY to make…
(A matter of simple video-editing).
Just string-together the “warnings and side-effects disclaimers” from the dozens
of prescription-med advertisements shown everyday…
DISCLAIMER:
For those of you who are too squeamish,
maybe you don’t want to read on…
…side effects such as…
…severe liver damage may progress to
liver failure resulting in death or
the need for a liver transplant…
…has also been linked to hepatitis…
…increased risk of visual hallucinations,
suicidal ideation, psychotic behavior and
aggression or violent behavior…
…gastrointestinal hemorrhage or bleeding ulcers…
…the risk of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract is increased…
…the risk of death from internal hemorrhage …
…proteinuria (protein in the urine)
and
rhabdomyolysis,
(a dangerous condition
where the muscles break down
and release toxic chemicals into the bloodstream
that hurt the kidneys)….
…twice the risk of suffering a heart attack…
…blurred vision and / or trouble urinating…
HERE WE GO AGAIN
“The bottom line is that opiates and syimulstes are much more addictive than marijuama.”
Cannabis has been proven to be “NON-ADDICTIVE,” but in the hands of those who are predisposed to addiction, the statement could easily have merit for PROHIBIYIONISTS to use as propaganda.
ProCon.org says “PERSCRIPTION DRUGS ARE RESPOSISBLE FOR FAR MORE DEARHS THAN MARIJUANA.”
That’s a true statement…as there has never been a recorded death from cannabis use…but…it sounds good. Neevertheless, cannabis still gets tagged for”SUSPECTED SECONDARY FACTORS.”
I have said it until I’m red, white, and “blue in the face”…and…will say it “ONE MORE TIME.” These little mistatements can come to an end if we lean on them with the Data Quality Act and the President;s Memo to Executive Dept Heads and Agencies. If you want to yell at your representatives, yell about that.
“Why are you NOT following orders…why are you allowing lies to reach the public…why are you NOT
doing your job.”
I think there are a couple years too late but atleast they are on the right track. LOL who thought mike jackson deaths would have a impact on mj reform funny shit.
I’m very glad NORML is providing up-to-date and relevant “green” news. I look forward to reading every new entry and seeing how compassionate legalization is a very real prospect of our future. Change will come by small steps, and each one of these articles showcases such steps: change doesn’t come in leaps.
Thanks, CBS, for illustrating an obvious truth. I can only hope more will have that “aha!” moment, and start stepping themselves.
Kudos to all here who are enlightened on this therapeutic herb. Keep it burning and take it from a Neurologist, this stuff is actually good for your brain’s health. Go figure that to the naysayers. Legalize it, and don’t criticize it, didn’t Peter tell you long ago?
I as a firm believer in legalization of marijuana think that it should be legal in the United States and be sold and grown as a cash crop for not only medical patients but for your everyday joe who would like to catch a buzz without the side effects like alchohol, prescription pills,methamphetamines,crack and all other habit causing high causing man made substances that are in america.I speek with expierience when i say that if marijuana was legal there would be less deaths and less fights between best friends and less teens to young adults that would be addicted to the manmade habit causing substances that are in america today. i was looking to smoke a joint the first time i ever tried methamphetamines and there was no weed to be found and as a result i am an active user of methamphetamines which by the way i hate,but cant get away from it.So marijuana should be legal if not for the kids so that they might not turn out like me but for the sick and the elderly who like to use marijuana as a way to relax their muscles and make the pain a bit bareable in their maybe last days on this earth. SO quit thinkin about your wallets government as in how much you make a year just in non violent criminals who get caught with a natural earth grown hearb and start makin room in jails for the ones that actually need to be and deserve to be there and let the potheads be happy,enjoy life and live it to the fullest free and without incarsaration from the government let them live normal raise familys and work in public places and quit judging and locking up peaceful people. ASSHOLES!!!!!! SIGNED:CHUCKLES 420
I as a firm believer in legalization of marijuana think that it should be legal in the United States and be sold and grown as a cash crop for not only medical patients but for your everyday joe who would like to catch a buzz without the side effects like alchohol, prescription pills,methamphetamines,crack and all other habit causing man made substances that are in america.I speek with expierience when i
say that if marijuana was legal there would be less deaths and less fights between best friends and less teens to young adults that would be addicted to the manmade habit causing substances that are in america today. i was looking to smoke a joint the first time i ever tried methamphetamines and there was no weed to be found and as a result i am an active user of methamphetamines which by the way i hate,but cant get away from it.So marijuana should be legal if not for the kids so that they might not turn out like me but for the sick and the elderly who like to use marijuana as a way to relax their muscles and make the pain a bit bareable in their maybe last days on this earth. SO quit thinkin about your wallets government as in how much you make a year just on non violent criminals who get caught with a natural earth grown herb and start makin room in jails for the ones that actually need to be and deserve to be there and let the peace loving marijuana users enjoy life and live it to the fullest free and without incarsaration from the government let them live normal raise familys and work in public places and quit judging and locking up peaceful people. ASSHOLES!!!!!! SIGNED:CHUCKLES 420
ROE: you are right on man. i also hate politics, could really care less about it. but you are right, the govt has brought the fight to me. i minded my own business for a while, but its going too far. after doing my own research about this “new potent killer weed” ive come to the conclusion that if the govt can lie to us about something so simple as a plant, what else are they lying to us about? i dont want to sound like a conspiracy theory wacko, but ya know what i mean? when you look at the FACTS and stats about marijuana and compare that to what the government has been telling americans for years, its truly mind blowing. its good to see they have “secretly” shifted their focus. it makes you think, “hey, maybe their on the right track” but then you read about all the arrests and convictions and life ruining court decisions brought on by “killer weed” and once again it goes right back to our govt. as of right now, 940am EST, according to my NORML widget, there has been 475000 arrests this year for marijuana. we have spent over $5.8 BILLION in prohibition… and would have made about $17 billion were it taxed like alcohol… but hey, i heard on the news today that the recession may turn around by early next year!
#29
Those adds are new but I think they are produced by the ONDCP. You know the Feds aren’t gonna stop making PSA’s against pot.
I’m skeptical.Like N-G Jake said, I still see these silly PFADFA commercials”kid waking up with face painted” etc. Calvina is still preaching that MJ causes brain damage. Unfortunately, many still are scared crapless that MJ may become legal. I work in an ER with a DR 6 years my junior who still believes that MJ is a demon weed although we only ever have treated prescription drug overdoses(usually their own meds)yep. legally prescribed, by who you ask? Well, their own DR’s of course. Let’s not let our guards down. Still a bunch of dumb people out there.
“In fact, the Partnership for a Drug Free America, the nation’s largest creator of anti-drug messages, hasn’t produced a single anti-marijuana public service advertisement since 2005.”
This statement by CBS is HIGHLY MISLEADING, as the ONDCP has been contracting out and paying for anti-pot ads/PSAs (Think Above the Influence etc.) en masse with our tax dollars for years now. PDFA was initially contracted by ONDCP to create the ads but then were fired by ONDCP in 2005 because their ads showed a “boomerang effect” among viewers — that is, teens who watched the ads said that they would be MORE LIKELY to try pot. After 2005, ONDCP hired new firms to create the anti-pot ads that have aired since then and still air today.
The phamacutical drugs are the governments way of legally peddling narcotics. Oxycotton is synthetic heroin. Anything natural is illegal. Anything synthetic is FDA approved!
And now Yahoo news is starting to cover the cause . Check it out here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_re_us/us_marijuana_taxes
I think NORML broke the code of silence for us.
The boy who cried wolf gets illustrated here. The young people watching the anti-pot ads on TV blew them off. Now there is a REAL problem with prescription drugs but with the government’s credibility on anti-drug messages being at zero, who’s going to listen now?
Much of Obama’s campaign support came from big pharma. They are not going to like this. Watch and you will see no legitimate change from the Obama admin in drug policy. Just feel good words with no action.
To number 42 chuck a duk. I totally feel you brother. As a young man in the mid and late nineties i too felt an experimental urge. Sadly pot was expensive nd rare in the farming town i grew up in where as meth was cheap and abundant. Sadly i tried two harsh drugs before i tried herb. Hell you could buy a ball of meth for close to a sak of good reefer. I got hooked hard in ’98 and didnt get off till ’06. I was able to quit with help from a loving high school sweetheart turned wife and the sweet sweet ganja. You gotta get off the crap my man. It consumes you from the inside out. Weed and will can set you free. I been clean for two yrs. I only smoke now. Not even drink thats all we need man. I dont kno who you are bro but the General salutes you. Im pullin for you kik the gofast to te curb.
OK I agree we need to legalize pot.
BUT I’m worried about all this hype about Rx drugs now. I’m on narcotics for severe arthritic pain (ankylosing spondylitis) and some days can’t function without pain killers. Sometimes I can go days without one. But those bad days I have noting else.
The other drugs I have been on have a warnings list and side effects longer then my arm. Things including lymphoma, cancers, lupus, MS severe infections and death. Sure the narcotics can take a toll and can be addictive, but they’re better then some other drugs I’ve been on (legally.)
Until we get MM in our state and people like me can see how well it works long term we can’t be fighting against the pain killers that save our lives. I know quite a few who’d rather be dead then living with this disease without drugs to help them. Some others even morphine doesn’t help. But I’ve talked to MANY who say they don’t take narcotics anymore and only smoke pot.
While I understand people abuse these drugs, we can’t label them as bad. Hell people abuse paint and glue too. They’re not bad, unless you use them in a “bad” way.
But I do feel that if we could legalize pot it would turn quite a few away from Rx drugs, myself included if it works well for me.
The people who go on these mass murder-suicide rampages are doing it because of the effects of anti-depression pills. Virginia Tech Cho? Check. The Columbine kid who launched his plot and kill lots of people? Check. There are others, I just don’t feel like researching them now, but I’ve read about them.
It’s good to hear this. I’ve been saying this about prescription drugs for a while. I’m 21 and growing up many people were abusing percocet (oxycodone/acetaminophen), vicodin (hydrocodone), alpazolam (xanax), ambien, valium, adderall, riddelin and a couple others starting about the age of 14, perhaps because many of us foolishly assumed they would be safer alternatives.
However, while most of us outgrew this, oxycontin and roxy’s (15 and 30mg immediate release oxycodone) have come to town and taken over, after spreading like wildfire. This opiate is a lot worse, and many people I know have become addicted and have had health problems directly related to its abuse. Legalize MJ and concentrate on RX.
PS. I’ve always said each decade had a common drug of use. The 60s were psychedelics, 70s was PCP and weed, 80s was coke/crack and 90s began RX.
Keep up the good fight! > i love the progress being
made, but i will forever be a cynic until the
day comes when our own government stops the police
state which wages a war against a minority portion of the population. 5% of the people in the united states are cannabis users. That makes us a minority. We are persecuted by our own government and the police state and hunted down and treated like FUCKING less than human and less than nothing. I thought we lived in the united states, apparently freedom is only for certain people. Land of the free home of the brave my ass.
Fabulous news,
except for the large amount of people pushing for medical marijuana.
If marijuana is lumped in with other perscription drugs, we’re back to sQuare one.
Well it’s good they finally recognize this threat. It is however only an illusion. Behind closed doors members of government would rather see our kids on pills then on pot- Bottom line. The government’s monopoly on perscription med’s created this problem to begin with, honestly fella’s, does it look like they really care? They will never legalize pot. Not until the end of the second American revolution. If only I was allowed to tell the public the truth about prohibition. To us it’s hell, to your leaders it’s profit. The more kids on pills, the more money they make. Im sorry but that’s the way it is, if you want change, I suggest you look towards revolt, because noone important is listening, they never have, they never will. Save yourselves.
If you have some insight to what they do behind the closed doors there “logic” then how bout record it on a camera and post it on youtube from a cafe or something… kthx bye.
Never take pills, they will destroy you. Smoke marijuana and be free from Babylon, only you can free yourself.
(>^_^)><////W~~~~ excuse me while I light my spliff!!!! HAaaa haaa haaa haa!
58 Ty
When the FDA can’t tell the difference between a food and a drug, we’re in deep shit. However they sure can tell the difference between green shit, and green backs. The “bottom line” is we’re talking about corruption…plain and simple.
I have never been arrested but I have smoked or ingested cannabis since I was 15 and I am 51. I am clean for the next 4 years till I retire in 2013. I think the government is afraid to open pandoras box. I hope the laws change and then I will no longer be an outlaw. Vote for a change if they ever let us.
63 M Grider Government is affraid to open Pandora’s Box.
Man that’s an understatement…extremely so! There’s a lot of shit they don’t want voters to find out. We haven’t given them enough time to fill the deep holes and cover them up. I mean caverns of shit, that might lead us to the “real control” culpret. Every time they get their ass cover in one place, they give in a little more. For instance…turning on the pharma-beasts. Patience…you’re really gonna need your meds
in your older age.
63 M Grider P.S.
PROHIBITION is the vaunt-Courier of the King. Defy his Majesty’s will and ye shall feel the blade of his sword…rather he face disequilibrium of power…when his Majesty’s true purpose is to gain power, and expand his empire. It’s an aristocratic value. The King only wants to hear what the King wants to hear, and that is…what the King has to say. God save the King.
I was prescribed paxil as a teen for depression and ” being out of control ” . After just a few times taking it I had noticed major changes to me. I was alot more violent, wild, i became nocturnal I truly didnt care for much aside my dog Nathan. This was actually increasing all the stuff it was supposed to stop, years later the simple truth was I was a guineea pig for a new pharm. drug, I don’t recommend puttin early teens on marijuana but it wouldve been a far better choice. I’ve seen what happens to people on xannax, oxycottons and addarill it’s not a pretty sight at all.There are so many pharm drugs I see advertisements on tv if you’ve taken xxxxxx contact us you might be entitled o xxxxxx$ because this drug has been linked to so many deaths heart issues etc and theyre prescribed to us for things like the flu. Our pharm. companies are using us as gunieea pigs to see what the effects are with out telling us, in my humble opinnion I don’t know how anyone can trust theese people. I know I’ll get some hate for this but i think if someone has cancer the true solution if they have an estimated life expactancy of only a few months (1-24) is to keep them high as possible dont give them chemo and radiation as I’ve seen firsthand how people feel on theese treatments and I’ve seen how they feel if they smoke a joint the difference is insane they go from throwing up nonstop not able to eat losing all their body hair not being able to sleep and constantly being in pain, to being sable to hold down food and move around and being happy as can be. We need to stop testing a drug on unknowing people or ” wards of the state ” but I know this is just as likely to happen as dcfs putting kids they take from a home into a better home. With our economy I don’t see how we can afford not to legalize marijuana not only what it create jobs from people growing it maintaing it harvesting it then dispensing it into joints or straight bud form for your choice on how to use it. It would also save forests so the stems would be able to be harvested for clothing, paper and they could also produce enviroment friendly gasses/oils for automobiles, alchool companies could produce cannabis based liquors. Enviromentally this would also have huge benefitts as i said save trees stop some pollution produce more oxygen. Summary of what im saying is sae people from bad pharms, create jobs, create money save the enviroment, save us money, how could we go wrong with this choice?
#41 Brain Doc Says:
July 16th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Kudos to all here who are enlightened on this therapeutic herb. Keep it burning and take it from a Neurologist, this stuff is actually good for your brain’s health. Go figure that to the naysayers. Legalize it, and don’t criticize it, didn’t Peter tell you long ago?
RE: In other words,
(this I know),
Cannabinoids promote neurogenesis… 😀
and vice-versa… 😉
There’ll be
NO MORE SMOKING
(and feeling tense…)
i remember when i was in highschool partying we would smoke weed and maybe do a little coke. now 8 years later when i go home i see my classmates little brothers and sisters smoking heroin and oxycontin. what the fuck has happened here? something has gone terribly wrong.
i was also a ritalin guinea pig. ive been to jail, beaten by the police, framed for posession, house arrested, evicted from my home. i spent 23 months in a brainwashing facility in central oregon. i have looked straight down .44 more than once. ive had my eye socket punched in and ive had my nose and face broken. ive addicted to cocaine, alcohol, pharmaceuticals of all shapes colors and sizesand i thought i was untouchable. and then, just like that highschool was over. time to grow up now…its a wonder i turned out the way i did.
this makes me very happy.
“It found that the approved drugs — which included anti-psychotics, Attention Deficit Disorder medications, painkillers and other prescription drugs — were suspected as the primary cause of 10,008 deaths and as a secondary cause in 1,679 more.
Marijuana, on the other hand, was the primary suspect in zero deaths and a suspected secondary factor in 279 deaths.”
uhhhh….duh. this is all you have to look at. not to mention how many deaths have been caused by alcohol.
I strated noticing this they other night during a pro cops show called COPS
The same ads which use to talk only about marijuana are now re-mixed – they re-did the ad whre they young gorl falls asleep at a so called party and her mean friend make a clown faced puppet out of her during her obviously drunken passed out self.
but know the video which used to warn parents about marijuana now says keep yourself in control or something like that
Prohibition was a stupid idea
some prohibition era cars are still around – just like marijuana prohibition still is
About time for some good news.looking good looking good.
Daves kratom is really really really fresh. we have been looking my whole life for this…I hope they don’t ban it…