Above the Influence: The Propaganda Machine - An Interesting Look on Marijuana

In addition to supporting the full legalization of marijuana for responsible use among adults, I believe it is important to get rid of the negative stigma that is associated with smoking pot.  As a society, we  don’t look down on a man who chooses to have a few beers after work or woman who goes to the bar to celebrate with her friends on a Friday night.  We also do not deny these people jobs.  Why should puffing a joint with one’s friends be any different?  Many of us are getting to the age where we are starting to apply for jobs that put us in the “real world”.  Many of these jobs require us to take drug tests.  The common thought amongst many people is that these drug tests help keep the so called “hard drug” users out of the work place.  This is so far from the truth it is unbelievable.  What these drug tests really are, are another way our society tries to keep marijuana users down.  I have yet to meet someone whose work asked them to go in and take a drug test that day.  Most know when they are coming, have a general idea of when they are, or can even set them up at their own convenience within a week or so.  These policies effectively allow people to use hard drugs, if they choose to do so, as long as they stay away from THC.  Let’s take a look at these “hard drugs” that most drug tests look for and how long they take to clear out of your system:

·         Heroin – Considered one of the most dangerous drugs known to man – 24-48 hours

·         Cocaine – Again, very dangerous, addictive and accessible – 24-72 hours

·         Ecstasy – Once legal, but now considered an illegal party drug – 1-5 days

·         Methamphetamine – It’ll give you a nice pretty smile like Christian Bale in The Fighter, but even if you get the nice Heizenberg (a Breaking Bad reference never hurts) stuff – 1 day – a week

·         PCP – Don’t even know anyone who has done PCP, but even if you could find it and use it – 1-5 days

·         Marijuana – 3 weeks – 2 months

There you have it; even the most dangerous of drugs will most likely be out of your system within a week while weed will stay in your system for much longer.  The only other drug to take longer than a week to clear your system is Methaqualone, commonly known as Quaaludes.  Good luck trying to find those, though, because I’m pretty sure they’ve been off the market in the US for ten or more years.  Just make sure, if your travels take you to South Africa, and you feel the need to party hard, that you don’t have a drug test waiting for you upon your arrival back in the States.  

                I believe Above the Influence is a terrible organization that spreads propaganda that leads to many people in the general public to be misinformed about marijuana and marijuana users.  We have all seen their ads on television, in magazines, on bus stops and in public schools.  I believe many of these ads to be lies or truths that are stretched very far in order to scare people from using drugs.  I understand that parents do not want their children to use drugs because, among many other reasons, they hinder the development of a growing brain.  Why not be honest about THC rather than trying to scare them out of doing them?  Does having a child make a person instantly forget what it is like to be young?  Kids may not have brains that are fully developed yet, but they are not stupid.  If you fill their heads with lies to scare them, they may believe them for the time, but then they get a little older and realize that buying weed isn’t going to fund terrorism or that the guy they buy it from isn’t going to offer them a syringe filled with heroin, what would make them think that anything else that they have learned about drugs is not a lie as well?  While the commercial for marijuana funding terrorism was pretty extreme and only on the air for a short time after 9/11, it still sticks with people to this day.  I will focus on a more recent commercial from Above the Influence that I have seen on the air in the last year.  It is the one where a couple of teenagers smoke a joint and the next thing they know they are standing next to a junk yard.  One of the boys is persuaded by his friends to jump the fence and try to outrun the junkyard dog.  This is one of the most absurd commercials I have ever seen.  You find me one person who smokes a blunt and then says, “You know what I want to do right now? I want to jump a fence and then run as fast as I possibly can for an extended distance.”  I dare you too.  Another lie that Above the Influence is trying to spread is that marijuana causes cancer.  On their website, they state that, “Marijuana smoke contains 50%-70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke.”  If this statistic is true, why has there never been a single instance of cancer being caused by smoking only marijuana?  After thinking about this, I decided to write them a letter and pretend to be a high school kid who has some questions about smoking weed.  I attached my letter below, and I am interested to see if they will write me back.  Trey Parker said it best, through Randy Marsh, at the end of the Future Self ‘n’ Me episode of South Park, “pot makes you feel fine with being bored, and it’s when you’re bored that you should be out learning some new skill, or discovering some new science or being creative.”  But then again, South Park is full of fart jokes so they probably don’t know what they’re talking about.  The lies seem to be working and that’s why the war on drugs is working and less and less kids are using marijuana…right?  Maybe if parents were honest and upfront with their kids, rather than treating them like they are stupid and trying to scare them, more people would wait until they were older to try pot, if they even try it at all. 

Below is the letter I sent to Above the Influence.  I tried to sound young and naive so hopefully they will respond. 

Hi, my name is Mike and I am 16 years old. I have heard many different things about marijuana ranging from what I hear from older friends who have tried it, to the things I have seen in your commercials on TV.  This led me to your site because I figured it would be a good source of information.  I read over the article and most of seems pretty over the top. When trying to use Wikipedia as a source in English class, my teacher told me it is not reliable because it is not sourced. I noticed your site does have a few sources but all of them link to government websites rather than independent studies. Would you be able to provide me a few more sources that back up the information that you provide? In particular, I find the part about marijuana containing "50%-70% carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke," to be puzzling.  When I clicked on the link that is provided after this sentence, nowhere in the entire article does it mention marijuana causing cancer. I was under the impression that tobacco smoke does not contain many carcinogens, but it was all of the chemicals that are added by the tobacco companies that cause cancer.  Anything you could tell me to help clear this up would be appreciated.  Thanks.