-It causes low birth weight and phsyical abnormalities. |
| Nate from Gossip Girl with A LOT of weed. |
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| Gossip Girl is a TV show about high society teens. They also
do lots of drugs, have lots of sex, and deal with many issues.
Here, the blonde (Serena) is on ecstacy while the male (Chuck)
is high from marijuana. |
Weed is a drug. Drugs aren't natural; I don't care where it grows from; it's still a drug, it still impairs you, and it can still kill you. No, not from overdosing; but from many other things. Like i mentioned in one of my posts, teens are stupid. They're smart enough not to drink and drive, and the rates for drunk driving have significantly decreased over the past years. However the rates for Drug driving have just been shooting up! Kids think it'll be okay to drive after having 1 or 2 joints. It's not. It's still impaired driving, and it's a huge reason why teens are getting into so many accidents and why so many people have Marijuana in their system when they die from motor-vehicle accidents. Also, weed has a clear negative impact on grades. The study i found proved that children with the worst grade are the ones who are usually out skipping class and smoking marijuana. That's so bad for them; I mean honestly, you're throwing away your future for a joint. I get they don't like school; no one really likes school. But we have to put up with it for our future. We know that getting good grades requires you to at least try, so why do people just have the mentality that it doesn't matter? It does matter. You come to class high, there's no chance of you learning anything. You skip class to get high, no chance of learning anything. We need a good future; it's as simple as that. So why throw it away over something as simple as a joint?
Peer pressure. That's why. No one's going to skip class to get high on their own (at least, I'm pretty sure). If anything they'll wait till after when they see their friends. Like I said so many times before, weed is the social drug; you do it when you're with people, not when you're alone. I mean sure, if you're home alone and bored out of your mind and you have a blunt sitting right there, you'd probably smoke it. But during school? Naw man. You'd need a friend with you. It's fun. It's better than being in a boring class. Right? 
Kush
Did you know that the average teen listens to 3.5-4 hours of music everyday? From the radio, Ipods, phones, TV's, and especially Youtube, music is one of the most fundamental part of a teens' life. We listen to it when we study, read, do homework, even when we're in a boring class. Some people (like myself) listen to music to help them sleep, and when I wake up in the morning. It's a daily routine, and there really isn't anything wrong with that. Some songs though can be quite dangerous; Because music is such a big part of our lives, we've become influenced by it. Violent, abusive music is one form of dangerous music in our society. Music that talks about rape, suicide, and drug use are just other forms of it. Because my topic is on weed, it's only fair for me to mention the dangerous affects that come with listening to this risky form of music.
Weed is most prevalent in rap music, however it's also in reggae music, jazz music, and heavy metal. Of course that's not all the genres, but definitely the most common. These days, especially in rap, music seems to be about the same old thing; money sex and drugs. What do kids seem to be in to these days? Money, sex, and drugs. Hmmm. I wonder why that could be. It's been proven that when kids listen to so much music that involve drugs and sexual activities, it's highly likely that it's contributing to a child's drug usage and sexual activity. Basically, the more risky music a child listens to, the more likely they are to take part in those risky activities. Teens who listen to more music that involve marijuana are more likely smoke it, and escalate to a higher usage of the drug. That is, compared to teens who hardly listen to music involving weed. 
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| Pinapple Express |
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| Harold and Kumar Movies |
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| HONEY BOO BOO CHILDDDDD! |
But what happens when our beloved celebs smoke marijuana? Well, why don't you ask all those #cutforbieber followers? A site called 4chan started this campaign as a terrible joke, but girls actually did it. Why? Because the media influenced them to do it. This issue has hand so many people talking; all our favourite Youtube people have been talking about it, too. How it's so completely ridiculous, how it's stupid, and how serious this issue is. One of my favourite youtubers, Michael Buckley, made a video on this topic. He talks about how serious this issue is, how the media is making our generation crazy, and how cutting is not the answer. You don't have to watch the video. I would recommend it, buuuuuut you don't have to. |
| Good Celebrity Role Model |
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| Bad Celebrity Role Model |
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| A way mass communication gets around, and enters our pop culture |
Actually, it's not really. Marijuana is actually something serious in many schools, especially ours. Weed is probably the biggest drug being sold at our school (a long with many other schools). What does this mean? This means that the board of education try so hard to prevent drug usage, when it's being sold right on their own grounds. School is the easiest place for people to buy drugs; why? Because our students are the drug dealers! School provides a great market for drugs; all the niners trying to get their hands on anything cool, and all the kids who are already so used to smoking it that it's become a habit. The school socializes us; it's been in our lives for years and will continue to be in our lives (for most of us anyways) for another lump some of years as well. So what better place to sell drugs and make some nice cash then a school filled with hundreds of people? If you look at it, it's a pretty smart idea. Most of our dealers know their "clients" from school anyways, so why not deal at school? Why? Because if you get caught you're screwed. If it's not your first offence with selling guess where you're going? The slammer. You're most likely gonna be suspended or expelled from school, which is terrible for your academics. I mean, you chose drugs, got caught, and now it's on your record. You're academically screwed.
But that's just my personal demons with the school borad. what we're talking about here is how marijuana effects marks in high schoolers. Honestly, it's just like you would think. Kids who smoke and drink and do all those crazy things are usually the kids to get D's and F's in school. They're skipping classes to go light their blunt while course concepts are being taught. How do they get notes? They borrow from their friends in the class. The teacher yells at them for missing so much classes, that eventually the kids just stop showing up. And how do they do on their exam? They pass if they're lucky. Now i'm not saying this is everyone who smokes weed; I'm saying this as a general statement. However, just like i know and you know, the more time you spend focusing on something other than school, you're grades will drop. But did you know the numbers? The stats behind these theories of mine? That 9-12 graders who get D's and F's are twice as likely to drink, but 5 times as likely to smoke weed? 5 times??! Don't believe me? See for yourself.
So, if you haven`t realized yet, this post will be on the next agent of socialization for children; the friends! Growing up, we have our Mommy's and daddy's pick which friends we have play dates with, which friends we get close to, and our opinions of them as well. For instance, if your parents don`t like a certain kid or a family that kid is from, chances of you being able to play with them will be nill. In this beginning stage, children are still very dependant of their family, yet they start to realize the way others see them and have to shape themselves to how others want them to be. But as we grow older and more independent, we chose our own friends, we make our own decisions, and our family slowly starts to fade into the background. Our friends are now the most important people in our lives, and we want to do everything we can to keep them in there (our lives). Why? Because we don`t want to seem uncool or loser-like. And this my friends, is the basis for peer pressure. Peer pressure is defined simply as an influence from ones peer group. So, influences from your friends. What you're primary social group is doing, you are most likely to do the same. This gets tricky when you have bad influences as friends though; real, real bad.
Like I mentioned before, what your primary social group is doing, you're most likely to do the exact same. So if you're close circle of friends is focused on studying and doing well in school, or focused on finding boyfriends, then you will be too. This also works the same if your primary group is focused on acting cool and doing drugs. If you're best friends with someone for like, ever, and they start doing drugs and want you to try it with them; what would you say? Would you refuse your bestest friend ever? Some people (like me) would. Others however are much more susceptible to peer pressure. The truth is, you really wouldn't know until it happened. Think back to grade 9, when all of us were just getting settled into high school and experiencing changes with our friends. All of us swearing not to do drugs because they're bad for you, or because you know it's not cool. Now, think about those same friends right now. Are they the same people they used to be? Did they keep to what they said about drugs? Did you know that 1 in 3 teens in high school admit to swearing never to do drugs, then a year, even a few months later end up doing it? How many of those people do you know? And most importantly, are YOU one of those very same people? What it all comes down to really, is the kind of people you put yourself around. By this age we're mature enough to make our own decisions and to trust our gut; we know when people are trouble or if they're going to help us become better people. If you put it like I just did, it seems like a piece of cake choosing your friends. But it really isn't so simple. If you think back to the video I posted about JB smoking weed, his company claimed that it was his friend's Lil Twists' fault, and that he's a bad influence on Justin and he's leading him down the wrong path. Sometimes you want to fit in with the cool crowd; you want to be noticed, want to be liked. And how do you do that? You do what they do. It kind of all comes back around to the whole, monkey see monkey do theory doesn't it? Eventually, you get so used to smoking weed and doing all these things that make you cool that you turn in to that kind of person, and you influence the younger generation. They look up to you (the "cool" kid) and they want to be just like you. It's an endless, repetitive, stupid cycle.
As you can tell by the title, we're start sociology at the veryyyyyyyyyyy beginning; with the family! The family really does play a huge part in a child's socialization. It's the very first contact we have, and we learn practically everything from them; our core values, our habits, what's right and what's wrong... But how does this relate to Marijuana and children smoking it? Well in all honesty, if you're from a family that is against drugs and anything bad and you happen to be a good child (like me) who always listens to your parents, then the probability of you trying it is low. It may be because you have respect for your parents wishes, or that it's just been so pounded into you from the very beginning that you've just become accustomed to saying no to drugs (again, like me). But then what about children from not so good families? Or rather, families that have been largely absent from their lives? Also, what about families that promote smoking weed? What happens with these kids? |
| Stewie from Family Guy surrounded by people in a.. thing full of weed. Monkey see Monkey do anyone? |
Children that are born into families who promote weed are ten times more tricky than other families. If you think about it, in Canada the amount of parents who want their kids getting in to drugs isn't that high (get it? high? making a reference to weed here peopleee). However in other places where it's acceptable to smoke weed, like India or Jamaica, how would their parents teach them? Do you think they'd say "here son, smoke this blunt!" like it's nothing? Or would they have even stricter rules? In India, we know it's a social custom to smoke marijuana, and it's even a drink! So even though it may seem like this kind of upbringing is looked down in Canada, there's actually lots of positives to this. First off, if children are more familiar with weed from the time they're little kids, they're learn more about it and how to control their urges for it. They won't see it as such a big deal when they're with their friends, either. Unlike our kids these days, who are just coming into high school and are exposed to drugs, kids in places like India won't see it as such a big deal because they've been around it since they were born. This however can have a HUGE negative; Can you guess? Well, since these kids are used to Marijuana, they'll be getting into even harder drugs when they reach high school age. A BIG NO NO.
Rastafarian's are a HUGE culture in Jamaica; it's basically Christianity for black people. They believe that Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, is the Black messiah who appeared in human form to free the blacks from the redemption of the whites. For Rastafarian's, Ethiopia is the Promised Land. This movement took place around 1930-1933.
There once was a man by the name of Leonard Howell. Leo (for short) launched the movement of the Rastafarian's in 1940 and recruited about 1600 people and moved them to the hills of St. Cathrine. This was basically a cult, and they called themselves the "Ethiopian Salvation Society". For a living, the people he brought over grew cash crops, including ganja (weed). Even today, many Rastafarian's keep to this.
Ganja has become sort of like the Cross to them; it's their religious symbol. Today, it's believed that Ganja is a holy herb that let's them loosen up their heads and see themselves as black people without all the pre-conditioned forces of the European society. Ganja's the key to new understandings of the self, universe, and of course God. It brings you to a level that you can't perceive without it, and it brings about fusion with all living beings. At least, that's what they believe.
My topic is whether or not Marijuana has become too mainstream these days. My answer, is yes. What's my reasoning? Well, let's look back at all my posts so far, that delve into the anthropologist side to marijuana. We started off exploring the world, seeing the different kinds of traditions from China, Jamaica, and India that involve the plant. We learned that weed, before people started smoking it, was used in clothes, ropes, and a power to drive away the bad spirits. It was then learned that you could extract the oil and put it in medicine. So, basically from weed we have clothes, rope, medicine, and lots and lots more stuff that people use everyday. And that's okay! I'm completely pro using weed as what it was meant to be used as; something beneficial that can lead to the discovery of new things (medicines, rope, clothes, etc). However, it's when you take it and use it as a drug that I put my foot down. The Summerians believed that smoking pot would put them in touch with god and give them courage; personally, I think that's stupid. It didn't put them in touch with god; it just let them listen to what they were really feeling. And as for the courage part? Bull. If they needed help being courageous, then there sure as hell would have been something else back then for that. I know that was a long time ago, but I mean come on. It's weed. Plants aren't meant to be smoked.
So, this post is called the green plant and the green paper. Obviously, the green plant is referring to marijuana, and the green paper would be...? MONEY. Yes, it's time to talk about the economy! (FUN.) The debate around the economic factors of weed have been around for years, and it's actually probably one of the only parts to legalising marijuana that I find to be beneficial. However, as I'll show you after, the cons to legalizing weed still outweigh the pros. Obviously. |
| Jeffery Miron |
