Op-ed: This is Why Most Cannabis Content Sucks
I love to read good, concise articles. You can also count me in for good documentaries. I’ve probably seen every documentary about cannabis. I love Krishna Andavolu (Weediquette) as I always learn something from his segments. Abdullah Saeed (Bong Appetite) is also a favorite of mine. Both do a stellar job of humanizing their subjects and remaining accessible when interviewing which, for me, is the true essence of a good cannabis documentary.
What’s not so good with cannabis content are the countless articles with headlines in the vein of “Celebrities Who Smoke Cannabis” or how some millennial Instagram star smokes out of a ten thousand dollar bong. Really?!
How about putting articles in these high traffic publications that delve into stories about how marijuana is legal in many places, but not if you live in public housing?
The most popular sites they’re not talking about this. I get it though, I mean, what’s more exciting than finding out that the guy from Star Trek uses medical cannabis?!
Newsflash: I DO NOT CARE THAT SOCIALITES ARE ENJOYING WEED! Wake up! Up you wake!
In my opinion, celebrities pouring money into BS so they can be “oh-so-progressive” is completely irresponsible. Pour your money into bringing t0 light the fact that if you’re poor and have a tint in your skin you’re going to have a much harder time exercising your human right to combust a plant.
Cannabis has exploded into a multimedia money-making machine. Fine, I like money. I also like information — real information — like about why these two are staring at this tin of Goya crackers.
They’re on heroin, that’s why. Heroin abuse among Latinos is huge and access to marijuana can help people beat heroin/opioid addiction. In Montana, heroin use was down 1.7% when they legalized medical marijuana. I’m not saying this is the golden ticket, but safe and easy access sure does help.
This is all good news right? Not if you’re poor, it isn’t. In New York City an ounce of marijuana can run you anywhere from $350 up. In dispensaries, though less expensive, it’s still expensive, and those resources are just not there.
This brings a litany of problems — one of the biggest ones that I observed in Brooklyn, NY is synthetic marijuana — a non-regulated, ever-changing chemical mash-up that mimics marijuana in looks, but not in effects.
For well over a year, I watched the corner by one of the methadone clinics in Brooklyn and witnessed addicts go even further down the scale by smoking that sh*t. Imagine how much more beneficial it would have been for these addicts to have access to medical marijuana instead of synthetic marijuana or methadone.
These are the people that need cannabis information and better access.
I’m happy that Tyler from Wisconsin can vape openly on Smith street, though.
Actually, it infuriates me. Until someone can do this in front of their own public housing, where they pay taxes, these images will irk the hell out of me.
I ask myself what can I do? Sure, I can scoff at Tyler, and celebrities and cut my eyes at them, but what else? I can keep educating myself, writing about what I want to read and attempt to keep an open mind.
I don’t have the answers. I just know what’s right and hopefully from that core truth will come justice.
