Weed Lifestyle

Cannabis TV: What Came First, More Stoners or More Stoner Media, Source: http://cartoontagging.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/television-rules-the-nation.jpgThe Atlantic put out an interesting article posting the chicken/egg question about cannabis in the media.

The gist:

Cannabis is making more appearances on television than at any point in our history. Is this growing prevalence of cannabis on television the result of slackening social and legal strictures or is television finally catching up to the culture which it mirrors?

I am reminded of the questioning of media violence that really began to gather steam following the Columbine shootings. Many were quick to point out that violent movies, songs and video games were to blame for the horrors of mass killings and demanded greater censorship and governmental oversight. The only problem with that logic is that violence is far from unique to contemporary times.

Sure, it’s easier to share news about such things and a violent person who indulges in violent media is certainly not helping the situation, but that doesn’t mean playing Halo will make you an icy-veined killer. This type of violence is nothing new, however tragic. Google H.H. Holmes and you’ll read about one of the most insidious serial killers of modern times. He existed in pre-1900’s America (long before the advent of any mass media). In fact, his killing was made easier due to the lack of media. He was able to operate almost undetected. Had Holmes attempted to perpetrate his crimes in the modern era, he would certainly have been caught due to sheer exposure.

Likewise with marijuana. I have no “science” to back this up, so take it as you will. People have been smoking weed for centuries. Long before the feds invented the DEA and turned cannabis into a thing that bumps in the night, people were getting stoned. People continued to get stoned during the horrific, gaping chasm of failure that was prohibition. Guess what? People are still getting high in these looming post-prohibition days. I’m not saying that seeing weed more frequently in the media, and being exposed to the overarching fact that it’s not the DEA-branded Devil’s Elixir that it has been painted as, doesn’t soften the mind of the cannabis-ignorant. I’m sure it does. That’s advertising.

As a professional stoner, it really doesn’t matter to me if TV reflects growing cannabis consumption or if cannabis consumption is rising due to pot-media. More people are openly getting stoned and willing to talk about it and that’s fantastic.

Television, like all media, is a tool. Ideas can only take root in fertile soil. America is ready and willing to make progress and end the failure of the cannabis war.