In the latest antidrug.com ad, we see a teenage girl passed out on a couch in a shabby party-house. Film goes into reverse, we see her barfing into a toilet, spilling her beer, partying with a bunch of other kids, smoking a joint, meeting her friends at school, leaving the house – then forward again: before she gets out the door her mom stops her, holds up a plastic bag of pot and says, “We need to talk!” Caption “Action: The anti-drug!”
So fucking what? I’ve been where that girl is, hope I will be again, and I’ve got no regrets. It’s not something one should do every day or even every month, but it adds richness and character to life’s tapestry. I have no kids, maybe if I did it would change my thinking. But still. Of all the things a responsible parent should be worrying about . . . Sorry, but I don’t think an American teenage life spent without partying and getting stoned and drunk and barfing and passing out in your own barf is a teenage life fully lived. Get down widdit!
If I were that girl’s parent, I would be saying, “We need to talk! What did you pay for this shit?! Sixty bucks?! For a lousy quarter ounce?! You dumbass! I raised you better than that! This isn’t even regs, it’s skunk weed! I could hook you up with some primo sinsemilla for fifty a half!”
Thank Og for small favors if that is your attitude towards irresposible drug use, under-age drinking, and general self-destructive behavior. It’s people who feel like you do that are at the root of a lot of our problems today. If you don’t teach your kids right from wrong, acceptable behavior from unacceptable behavior, you end up with a whole new generation of pregnant drug-abusers. How many kids have to ruin their lives before your “rich tapestry” turns into a shabby rug?
“Somone went to a party! And had fun! And drank and smoked some! And got sick. And didn’t drive a car and was responsible! The horror[sup]tm[/sup]! The horror[sup]tm[/sup]!!!”
Yep. Let’s protect children from the things we all did when we were children that didn’t hurt us any more than a hangover the next day. Because, um… because… Won’t somebody think of the children!?!
Silenus, hope your post was a whoosh, otherwise it’s just dumb. Having a few beers or a few hits of a joint at a party is tantamount to be a drug addled teenage parent? If you say so… at least I know never to party with you.
I am entirely for the responsible use of marijuana and completely against the irresponsible use of it. It is not a party drug. It can heighten your sensory perceptions and bring you more intimately closer to music, art, and thoughts in general. Or it can just leave you confused and paranoid. People need to have respect for its powers and they need to understand that it’s not just something you do “to get fucked up.” Since when did “fucked up” ever have a positive connotation? It does today, among modern youth culture, because of irresponsible use of it - and because of parents saying “just don’t do it” instead of saying “use it if you want to, but do it under the right circumstances.”
The 60’s gurus had it right about drugs - they’re useful for expanding your mind, for taking journeys into your own soul, for introspection and reflection, and for new perspectives on music or philosophy. Unfortuntately the unenlightened youth just wanted to “get fucked up and have a good time,” which isn’t neccessarily bad, but can leave you burned out and can lead to unpleasant experiences and lack of judgment. This “just have a good time” attitude carried forth into modern culture and is now embraced by youth for all the wrong reasons.
In short - drugs can be good, and they can be bad. Not teaching your kids ANYTHING about them, and just saying NO, makes it more likely for them to have BAD experiences with them.
Ummm, ever since the first caveman drank some grape juice that had been sitting around too long or smoked a bit of that sticky plant and realized that, hey, being fucked up is fun? Humans are a pleasure seeking species. Things that bring pleasure–food, sex, and a nice buzz–will forever have positive connotations in my book.
There’s a difference between a buzz and the room spinning around you, double vision, and being fucked by ten strangers. Yeah, being drunk is fun, but as I’ve always understood it, “fucked up” means being beyond the point of understanding anything. And I always need to have understanding, to be in control of my facilities.
As I see it, the difference between drunk and “fucked up” is, are you in control of yourself or not? And I always like to be in control.
I guess I’m a little more conservative about my vices than some people.
“Heh heh… dude… have you ever looked at your hands? I mean really looked at your hands? Oh man, I am so hungry! Anybody want to order a pizza?”
You’re right. Definitely not for parties.
I can hardly handle the loud noise and crowded environment of most parties when I’m straight. Under the influence, it can feel like a wall of sound and fury, aurally assaulting you from all directions. At least in my experience.
Pot is not a party drug? WTF? You some kind of principled stoner? Stuck up much?
Fuck that. Pot is for chilling out to. Maybe it involves party, maybe it involves a nap. Maybe it just involves a trip to 7-11 for some munchies or a call to a pizza place. Party with it I definitely have. Though I never smoked it if I was going to a kegger because it was a guarantee that I’d end up like the chick in the commercial, which really cut down on my intake of beer.
Everyone is different in what they can tolerate and how they use substances like pot. I liked to chill with it, but I know other people who used it like American Express(don’t leave home without it).
I don’t see what’s so wrong with the commercial. Teens do what teens do no matter how much pot you find in their dresser.
While I think Silenus is overreacting a tad, so are you. The behavior in the ad goes way beyond drinking and smoking some and getting sick. I’d be seriously worried for my daughter if she were passed out cold in a puddle of her own puke in a party house.
The ad ends with the parent confronting the kid with a bag of pot and the statement, “We need to talk.” That doesn’t neccessarily mean , “I found pot in your room and you’re grounded until you’re 21.” The ad deliberately leaves the situation open-ended. To me, it’s obvious that Mom and her daughter do need to talk.
The kid needs to know the consequences and dangers of going too far beyond her limitations; how it’s important to be careful in situations where there are a lot of people you don’t know and shouldn’t blithely trust; how to arrange for a buddy system that will get you and your friends home if you get too wasted. For the mom’s part, she needs to remember what it was like to be the kid’s age, and recall the parties she was at and what it felt like to get a buzz and do a little dancing and getting outside in time to let the cold air hit your face and maybe keep you from barfing.
The problem is - and the ad is really lousy at conveying this - if you wait until you find a bag of smoke in the kid’s underwear drawer, you’re already too late and you haven’t fully done your job as a parent. Gotta start early with kids - remember what it was like to be a kid when your kid is still in grade school, and start communicating with them then, because if you can keep the lines open when they’re six, they’ll still be listening when they’re sixteeen.
I’ve got a 16-year-old daughter, and I practice what I preach. It’s not going to take finding a bag of dope in her room to get us to talk, and there’s enough trust between us that if she ever starts getting in over her head at a party she knows she can call me to fetch her without having to worry about me going ballistic on her at the scene.
Sounds like we’re actually pretty much in agreement. It’s just that when I think “party,” I don’t think “chilling out.” I think “crowded environment, possibly in an unfamiliar place with strange people, loud music, and lots of body heat.” I’d rather, like you said, go to the store with my buddies and buy food, then go home and sit around, play video games or listen to music or watch a movie and whatnot. Or just have conversations.
Well, first off, if the OP is a valid recounting of the ad, she was just passed out, not in a puddle of vomit. Then again, if the worst thing that happens is that a kid is passed out in some puke, ah well. You wash their clothes.
In addition, as long as they know the people they’re partying with, why shouldn’t they pass out on the couch? Yes, women especially are vulnerable if they get super smashed at some strange party, but if she was with friends? Probably nowhere safer for her at that moment than asleep on a couch.
Then again, if a parent only gets the idea that they ‘need to talk’ once they’re finding dime bags, they’re a tad too late. Locking the stable once the horses have bolted isn’t always the best policy. Far better to teach children about the real dangers of drugs before they start experimenting.
All good points, but definitely way too late if it’s already happened. And honest and open dialogue without scare tactics would’ve served her mom better. IMHO, of course.
That’ll teach me to respond line by line without reading the whole thing first Imma leave the above text though, cuz I agree, n’ stuff.
Excellent.
But, then again, the anti-drug ads don’t counsel responsible drug use, but non-drug use.
When you’re over 21- it’s your life. Maybe over 18. But not at the age that girl was portrayed at. Young teens have no business drinking or smoking pot- or smoking anything else for that matter.
And, the AD promotes communication between a parent and her child. That’s a GOOD thing. I think I agree with **Uvula Donor **on this.
Wait…why? That sounds arbitrary. I mean, in Europe the age requirements are different, so beyond the legality (which I’ll admit is an important factor,) is there any reason why someone who’s 17 can’t do it, but someone who’s 18 can?
I think it’s an issue of emotional maturity, not age.
An under-age girl passed out at a party is never alright. Period. I don’t care if she is with friends, family, a group of nuns, whatever. She drank enough to puke, and mixed it with grass.That is abuse of a substance or substances, and is not to be blown off with a “kids will be kids” attitude. I have to deal with parents like that every day, and then you wonder why their kids are losers.
Over 18, and it’s your life. Fuck it up if you want to. Under-age, and it is a different story.
Communication is paramount. Education is key. There is no such thing as “responsible drug use” if you are a minor. None.
Just for the record: I support the decrimilization of grass, the medical use of marijuana, and I am no stranger to drugs. Far from it. But the ad is about “Talking to your kids,” not “electrocute all potheads.”
Yes. When I read your post my initial reaction was “Fuck that! I partied hard on pot!”
Then my limited memory kicked in and replayed most of the 10 or so years of pot use and I realized that I spent most of my time in my living room, asleep in my bed, and avoiding big crowds, which used to totally kill my buzz with paranoia.
Of course she’s not safe… because… because… Won’t someone think of the children?!?
Pfffffffffffft. Nobody got hurt. A kid drank more than her limit and smoked some herb. Call out the national guard.
I’m glad that whatever counciling position you’re in, you deem kids ‘losers’. I’m sure that attitude has helped them all their lives to suceed. Good job.
Yes, because smoking pot, or drinking too much, will fuck up your life.
You do, by the way, realize that it’s exactly the kind of bullshit that you’re spewing which causes a great many kids to lose respect for the anti-drug propaganda? The louder you talk about how horrible pot is, the more cognitive dissonance they’ll have when they realize it’s not that bad, after all. Now, not to suggest that teens are somehow less than fully appreciative of adults getting on their case, but dontcha think that they might just trust you a bit less after learning that you’re full of shit?
Jus’ curious.
Heh. Great job at communication.
“Don’t ever do it until you’re 18 and then it’ll fuck up your life!”
Pot is a gateway drug because of how much effort screaming idiots take to demonize it. When a kid does pot and finds out it’s not that bad, they wonder what else you’ve lied to them about.
Just no pot with alcohol, because, that’s just wrong. And especially no pot for anybody under an arbitrary age.
I somehow doubt that the message is “talk to you kids and tell them about how to properly use the drug.”
Imma leave the above text though, cuz I agree, n’ stuff.