# Media Smokescreens in Marijuana Legalization **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 18, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191 "2015-08-18T17:26:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MegaNazz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@MegaNazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaNazz)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/1 "2015-08-18T17:26:39Z")
It really feels like the pharmaceutical companies are writing the media’s checks in regards to their marijuana coverage. First, there’s the confusion of spice/K2 with weed because of the somewhat confusing name “synthetic marijuana” even though the results are more akin to bath salts. Then you’ve got the weird distractions pointed out in this article in which [media uses marijuana as a scapegoat](https://www.marijuanapackaging.com/blog/are-efforts-to-legalize-marijuana-hurt-by-media-demonization/) instead of addressing the real problems. I don’t think I’m becoming a conspiracy theorist although I suppose stranger things have happened. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/2 "2015-08-18T17:55:35Z")
Really? As a middle-aged, middle class consumer of middle-brow media (I even watch the evening news and network sitcoms) I have not noticed any negative spin regarding marijuana legalization. I also grew out of the belief that weed is some sort of miracle drug almost thirty years ago and I am so very gladdened that the sensible “legalize, regulate and tax it” viewpoint is finally being implemented. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/3 "2015-08-18T17:59:59Z")
I’ve never heard of “spice” outside a Dune novel, or K2 outside of mountaineering. Nor do I see how your linked article makes marijuana a scapegoat for anything. It seems almost like you don’t want the media to report anything that might look bad for marijuana, because that would hurt the drive for legalization. I favor legalizing the stuff myself, but so what? It’s not the media’s job to push that agenda. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/4 "2015-08-18T18:19:54Z")
Quick Google search of headlines with marijuana in them: > [@](#): > > The next 11 states to legalize marijuana > The Dangers of Synthetic Marijuana > Fledgling Marijuana Industry Pressing Through Labor Pains > Feds limit research on marijuana for medical use > 5 myths about marijuana > Board deciding crucial ballot wording on marijuana > Residents speak out on planned Plymouth marijuana dispensary > Eleven years after being approved, Montana’s medical marijuana … > This Canadian University Offers a Class on the Business of … > Oregon newspaper is looking for a marijuana critic 1/10. So, nope. Not much smoke … screen there. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/5 "2015-08-18T22:24:53Z")
Yeah. Not happening. The Denver Post has had a marijuana critic for a year, and the mainstream news networks covered it relentlessly in a neutral fashion. CNNhas has three Dr. Sanjay Gupta specials where his mind changed from hard-core skeptic to enthusiastic supporter of more studies, and bot CNN and CNBC ran ongoing “reality shows” for lack of a better term that showed the business in a good light. Closer to documentaries than to reality shows, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![MegaNazz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@MegaNazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaNazz)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/6 "2015-08-19T18:22:36Z")
Maybe it’s just the media outlets I’m consulting. Spice/K2 is more popularly referred to as “[synthetic marijuana](http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/08/18/the-dangers-of-synthetic-marijuana).” It was in the news most recently when a guy killed his dogs, beheaded his wife, gouged out his own eye and chopped his hand off. I think the average American hears the term “synthetic marijuana” and probably just hears “marijuana.” I know I did until I read the articles and realized it was a completely different thing, not even coming close to matching the chemical compounds of THC. I’ve never known anyone to act violent after smoking weed. I’m sure there are people that do act violent but they are the minority. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/7 "2015-08-19T18:28:24Z")
If the news is getting their stories from Big Pharma or the anti-legalization side then the pro-legalization side isn’t doing their job. Do you think the news is based on actual independent objective research? No, they take the stories sent to them and air the ones that will play well. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/8 "2015-08-19T19:18:34Z")
> [@MegaNazz](#): > > Maybe it’s just the media outlets I’m consulting. Spice/K2 is more popularly referred to as “[synthetic marijuana](http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/08/18/the-dangers-of-synthetic-marijuana).” It was in the news most recently when a guy killed his dogs, beheaded his wife, gouged out his own eye and chopped his hand off. I think the average American hears the term “synthetic marijuana” and probably just hears “marijuana.” I know I did until I read the articles and realized it was a completely different thing, not even coming close to matching the chemical compounds of THC. I’ve never known anyone to act violent after smoking weed. I’m sure there are people that do act violent but they are the minority. If they’ve got a choice between running a story about how people are smoking synthetic weed and it’s making them sick, some people are smoking it and it isn’t, and a guy who cut his hand off, it shouldn’t come as any particular surprise which one they go with… ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/9 "2015-08-19T19:34:10Z")
> [@MegaNazz](#): > > It really feels like the pharmaceutical companies are writing the media’s checks in regards to their marijuana coverage. Fill me in on this conspiracy theory: pharma opposes legal weed so… they can sell more expensive blood pressure medication? More cancer drugs? More Viagra? ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/10 "2015-08-20T00:35:13Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Fill me in on this conspiracy theory: pharma opposes legal weed so… they can sell more expensive blood pressure medication? More cancer drugs? More Viagra? Close. More opiates. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/11 "2015-08-20T01:09:39Z")
> [@MegaNazz](#): > > Maybe it’s just the media outlets I’m consulting. Spice/K2 is more popularly referred to as “[synthetic marijuana](http://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/08/18/the-dangers-of-synthetic-marijuana).” It was in the news most recently when a guy killed his dogs, beheaded his wife, gouged out his own eye and chopped his hand off. [Victorian gent] How different, how very different from the home life of our own dear Queen ! [/Victorian gent] ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/12 "2015-08-20T01:46:14Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Close. More opiates. Pharmaceutical companies are engaging in a propaganda war against marijuana to insure that people illegally use large quantities of Vicodin? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/13 "2015-08-20T02:25:16Z")
Close. I’ve heard the argument that they’re doing so to ensure continued widespread _legal_ use of Vicodin _et alia_. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/14 "2015-08-20T03:07:54Z")
> [@MegaNazz](#): > > It was in the news most recently when a guy killed his dogs, beheaded his wife, gouged out his own eye and chopped his hand off. He was just upset about not getting into law school. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/15 "2015-08-20T13:39:29Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Pharmaceutical companies are engaging in a propaganda war against marijuana to insure that people illegally use large quantities of Vicodin? Marijuana is a potent pain medicine with zero side effects besides giggling that you can grow in your back yard. It increases appetite and relieves nausea. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, nor am I claiming the stuff cures cancer, but it doesn’t take a conspiracy to see why pharmaceutical companies might want to discourage legalization via a PR campaign. They make a lot of money on medicine you can only get from a big factory. Widespread home medical gardens are not in their corporate interests. Also “propaganda war”? Every organization that ever existed uses PR, marketing and advertisements to persuade people to their side. You don’t have to make people out to be crazy CTers because they dared to suggest pharmaceutical companies might run ads and PR campaigns. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/16 "2015-08-20T13:50:46Z")
So is there evidence that pharma uses its influence to planting bad stories about legalized recreational marijuana? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/17 "2015-08-20T14:05:54Z")
I worked at a “Big Pharma” company for a while, in clinical trial data collection. From what I know of the product development and marketing groups, they are more likely to spend their PR budgets on convincing folks that home-grown weed has no guarantee of potency or effectiveness and so you should ask your doctor to prescribe genuine CannabiX for pain or nausea! (See our insert in Modern Living magazine.) ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/18 "2015-08-20T15:21:24Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > So is there evidence that pharma uses its influence to planting bad stories about legalized recreational marijuana? Well, considering the shear amount of advertising time they buy on commercial media, they certainly _could_ plant bad stories. Unfortunately, a decent CT needs to have a _why_, and the more inflammatory the better I say. So here’s the problem, marijuana’s curative effects involve causing the patient to forget they’re sick. If the patient wasn’t actually sick beforehand, they’d be completely cured afterward. It’s helpful in some radiation patients as they forget they’re not hungry and eat (which is a good thing). There’s room to spin here, but we’d never get a decent crackpot theory … not worth the time to manufacture evidence IMEIO ---
**Author:** ![MegaNazz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@MegaNazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaNazz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/19 "2015-08-20T17:39:44Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Fill me in on this conspiracy theory: pharma opposes legal weed so… they can sell more expensive blood pressure medication? More cancer drugs? More Viagra? It’s hypothesized that further research into marijuana could also help with issues as diverse as salivary production disorders, glaucoma, and stimulating hunger in chemotherapy patients and those afflicted with AIDS. Even if you don’t think it has a chance in hell of helping fight cancer, pharma loses cash if people start self-medicating. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/media-smokescreens-in-marijuana-legalization/728191/20 "2015-08-20T18:52:30Z")
Further research into willow bark led to aspirin. No one brews willow bark tea gor cramps anymore (except for Granola eating barefoot types ). Research into the actual pharmacological actions of marijuana is a different issue from home grown recreational use.