Cannabis Journalism Day Dos
The view of marijuana has changed drastically through the years. It has gone from being seen has the worst substance on Earth to just a plant you can smoke. It has come a long way from being seen as evil to being seen as the only way to make life livable.
One particular movie shows the exaggerated opinions about marijuana in a great way. Reefer Madness depicts the crazy story of the death of a young woman named Mary; she was murdered accidentally during a “high” fight. A man is falsely convicted and the true perpetrator becomes “incurably insane” due to the continued use of cannabis and his guilt. The police blame marijuana for the reason why the man committed the crime. They have actors laughing uncontrollably after smoking one puff, overly dramatic.
The day continued to meeting the man, the “cannabis candidate”, the one and only Scott Durrah. He helped us understand the difference between being high and being stoned. To be high means you are able to be productive throughout your day. You can get up and clean your house, do your homework, or run errands. He explained as to why he got into the business, it was a social justice reason. A large amount of discrimination and the label of criminalization comes with the word cannabis and the business dealing with it.
Mr. Durrah brought it to our attention that a lot of people listen to bad media and want to have a reason to see the business as a “bad industry”, especially the government. Mr. Durrah spoke of the time his business got raided due to stereotyping; the police found nothing and it became a big story on FoxNews.
Scott Durrah showed how marijuana is becoming more normalized, whether that be medically or in a lifestyle way. In the medical field marijuana has become more recognized and use in combating serious conditions like epilepsy, seizures, etc. Many parents travel to different states to get the resources necessary for their children.
“Everyone is against it until it’s their kid.”
Field trip time to the Grasslands. Ricardo did an amazing job explaining the true meaning behind his old news column, the Cannabist, and why he decided to leave The Denver Post. Ricardo, like Scott Durrah, spoke how society, mainly people in politics, use the information they get from the media to depict marijuana as a bad drug. The sources they look at are usually “trash” like he stated. They do not have credible information but since it is on the internet they use it in their favor.
After this afternoon I have decided to continue with my idea for my final project: the stigma behind marijuana users. It seems from today that the stigma has not changed. Like Mr. Durrah stated, “they think the youth are “damn stoners” and do not know what they are talking about”. When he says “they” he means society. This is just one view of the stigma. The stereotype/stigma changes as the world continues to evolve and it is always recorded for everyone to see.
