"Pot. It mightn't kill you, but it could turn you into a dick

[Jess Stone]

"Pot. It mightn't kill you, but it could turn you into a dickhead"

 

Ads target cannabis smoking teens

 

A NSW anti-cannabis campaign will target teenagers as they travel to school and surf the internet.

 

NSW Health launched the $600,000 campaign, which it says is designed to warn the 14 to 19-year-old age group on the dangers of starting the marijuana habit.

 

Print advertisements, carrying tag lines such as "Pot. It mightn't kill you, but it could turn you into a dickhead", will appear in youth magazines and on bus stop posters.

 

The ads feature a person staring accusingly from a black and white photo and quotes such as: "You've got great eyes, when they're not bloodshot" and "I'd lend you money, but you still owe me from last time".

 

Cinemas will screen a montage of the print shots, as will online advertisements which are set to run on youth-orientated websites, including myspace, msn messenger and gaming sites.

 

A NSW Health spokeswoman said online displays were an excellent way of spreading the anti-drug message as the websites' registration requirements meant the correct age group could be targeted.

 

NSW Health drug and alcohol programs director David McGrath said the campaign was aimed at reducing the number of teenagers experimenting with the drug.

 

"There is still a significant cohort of people who think, particularly with the young person's age group, that cannabis is normal," Mr McGrath said.

 

He said the number of young cannabis users had halved over the last six years to one in five teenagers, but more needed to be done.

 

"We want to prevent people who are thinking about taking cannabis up from taking it up and also encouraging those people that are using cannabis to cease," he said.

 

"There's no safe level of cannabis use."

 

Mr McGrath said teenagers needed to be made aware of the consequences of smoking pot, including mental illness such as depression, as well as damage to physical health and social interactions.

 

© 2007 AAP SMH online

The dickhead who thought up using "dickhead" is really a dickhead !...Jess

[WantDaChronic]

if anything they'll make for a good laugh, i dont really think they'll have any impact on marijuana consumption

[bufo marinus]

NSW Health drug and alcohol programs director David McGrath said the campaign was aimed at reducing the number of teenagers experimenting with the drug.

 

"There is still a significant cohort of people who think, particularly with the young person's age group, that cannabis is normal," Mr McGrath said.

 

SMH online

 

Of course people think it's normal Mr McGrath.

I love the fact my 19 year old daughter VALUES me and my lifestyle.

We don't need to worry about your type of people anymore Mr McGrath, you are insignificant and you are seen by people like my daughter to be full of shit ................ dickhead

[mull]

It's interesting to see the health system now clutching at straws to spend 600 Gs.

Note the 'link' to schitzophrenia is not mentioned as it has now dissolved. However there must be a new link to depression now! Watch as this link dissolves to.

 

The halved to 1 in 5 is another interesting stat, with no study quoted to back it up. Following along that line of truth, the other 4 must be doing biccies, speed, and ice - with co-morbid nicotine and alcohol tendencies

 

There is a safe level of cannabis use! Also safe, smoke free delivery methods - ya dickheads

[Al Fish]

Alas! I see it all now - clearer than my footprints. All those time I got stoned and communed with God; ripped and read Nietzsche or shit-faced and immersed myself in the poetry of Philip Larkin; wasted and listen to music; meditated; cooked great meals; sat in the sunlight or played with my dog I was a Dickhead! It all makes sense now.

 

Although a graffiti campaign along the lines of ‘Wear sun-glasses and grow your own’ may provide an answer I guess for people like me – ignorant, deviant and drug-addled – it is all too late. I am a Dickhead who should have been getting drunk, going to the Footy and hooning around in cars.

 

This government campaign has really got to me though. After such knowledge, what forgiveness? And even though I’ve been dry for more weeks than I care to recall I can feel some depression coming on. Marijuana is a slow poison. I’ve been using now for more than twenty years and I still alive only because the poisonous effects take so long to manifest, I guess. I only wish I wasn’t a Dickhead!

[humphrey b flaubert]

You should see if you can get them to advertise on this site, that way we can all have a good laugh and some of the money the government is wasting on this can go to a good cause

[miickEe]

I can't get over the way they have worded this.. using words like 'normal'.. what the fuck isn't 'normal' about it? I mean, it's been grown naturally for thousands of fucking years, most probably preceding the 'medicinal' ancient use of alcohol. They've been so fucking useless at enforcing prohibition that their last line of defence is to change people's minds about using it.

 

And what kind of quantitative evidence can prove the degree of which someone will develop symptoms of or become a 'dickhead'? Just another fucking pathetic punchline in their pathetic pseudo-scientific parade.. fucking incompetent bastards. And the fucking line "I'd lend you money, but you still owe me from last time", that cracks me up.. implying that the majority of marijuana users experience financial problems because of their use. Fuck, I spend $50 every two months on weed, goddamn. My brother spends a cool $40 a week or so on a carton of Toohey's Extra Dry, and they think that we're in financial shit?

 

I hate their fucking mentality, based on unsubstantiated fact (opinion) and 1950s racist propaganda, and yet it sells better than hotcakes at fucking maccas. Not only has it changed the way friends have viewed me over the years, it's conditioned the way my whole fucking generation thinks. 'Oh, alcohol's safe, it's legal'. Fucking OXYMORON, you hypocritical bastards. Alcohol was illegal at the time where marijuana was legal, yet you don't here the government state that fact. Their message is clear 'we might not be able to prove it's dangerous, but we sure as hell think so'

[Indycar]

Mr McGrath said teenagers needed to be made aware of the consequences of smoking pot, including mental illness such as depression, as well as damage to physical health and social interactions.

 

Well Mr McGrath, ya betta go back to the drawin' board with that theory. Even latest report from the Mental Health Council of Australia admit there's no direct link to cannabis use and depression. They tried to make something of it themselves. But in summary, there were no definite facts, just speculation once again.

 

Prolly be best to do some proper research Mr McGrath. Before you go shootin' off at the mouth, ya Dickhead...

 

[neostone]

I think there probably would be a link between mental illness and cannabis use. If you are mentally ill or depressed the natural tendency is to medicate yourself in some way to help cope/escape. Some rely on their Doctors for this medication, others use alcohol, cannabis, or other various illegal substances.

 

If you were do do a study on a group of mentally ill people, you are likely to find a higher rate of substance abuse among them. However that does not prove that the substances caused their mental problems. Likewise, if you did a study of any group of chronic drug users, whether they be alcoholics, stoners, junkies or pill poppers you will also likely find a higher rate of mental illness when compared to occasional users. But again, all this proves is that mentally ill or depressed or unhappy people use drugs more than the average person.

 

In some cases the drug use can be necessary and beneficial, in other cases it can be destructive. But thats not the point. The point is that statistics could be used to demonstrate a link between drug use and mental illness but that does not mean the drugs are the source of the problem.

 

If Mr McGrath is worried about the mental health and socialisation of stoners maybe he should be looking at relaxing the anti cannabis laws instead or trying to tighten them up.

[thc24]

if they want teens to choose life over drugs they need to do alot better than this.. Has running ads, taking cars away, massive fines, canceled licences , anti hoon propaganda, teen drink drive and drug drive done anything to slow the deaths on our roads or stoped anyone speeding or racing. I think not if the gov was for real many roads would be upgraded relayed with decent bitumen fewer stones, trees move 20meters back from the road, power poles removed and driver training should be the first steps andwould tell me there serious about this big problem.

 

How about school outing to the rehab clinic would be more confronting than, poor bum with red eyes = pot head on Tv. Using any drugs as a teen is sure to change a persons personality better or worse i dont really know but i dont see a big differance in my mates that use and have never used illegal drugs.