Subject: The WO[S]D and State Fair Hypocrisy
From: [email-masked] (The Machman)
Date: 30 Aug 1993 21:27:54 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.drugs

Yesterday I went to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, Washington.

So all over the place there's DARE shit, "DARE to keep kids off drugs"
signs on trailers and walls and t-shirts and buttons, and a big booth
with fancy items for sale and plenty of "drugs are evil" propaganda,
plus a couple cops in various shiny uniforms.

And maybe not a hundred yards away are a couple youthful Marlboro
representatives with boxes of matches and cigarette lighters, handing
them out to folks who give the right answer to "are you a smoker?"

(To which I replied, "no, but it's never too late to start, huh?")

There was a crowd of girls hanging around, filling out some kind of
survey forms for the Marlboro people.  I don't say women because I don't
think they were women, I think these girls were maybe sixteen or so.

Nobody else seemed disturbed by this obvious dichotomy.

It really pissed me off.

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That's not even to mention one of the brochures available at the DARE
booth: "Facts About Marijuana," published by noted drug awareness authority
the Lions Club.  In its entirety:

FACTS ABOUT MARIJUANA

Marijuana: Drug of Deception

  Marijuana is made from the leaves, small stems, and flowering tops of
the Cannabis sativa plant.

  Marijuana, also called pot, grass, weed, is usually smoked in a loosely-
rolled joint or in a pipe.  It has a sweet, lingering odor.

  Marijuana causes the user to experience a feeling of well-being---of
detachment from ordinary circumstances.  This "high" is usually followed
by feelings of depression.

  Marijuana is not just one substance; it contains more than 400 chemicals.
The most widely known compund in this group is commonly called THC (delta-
9-tetra-hydro-cannabinol).

  THC is the primary mind-altering ingredient in marijuana.

  A portion of THC is absorbed into fatty tissue in the brain and repro-
ductive organs, and in most other organs as well.

  It takes the body at least 30 days to eliminate all effects of smoking
one marijuana joint.

  Marijuana is up to ten times more potent today than that which was produced
in the 1960s.

  Some experts previously thought Marijuana to be harmless.  It is now known
that the reasons users can stop smoking without feeling severe withdrawal
symptoms is because of the body's storage of THC.  [!!  huh?  indeed.]

Effects of Marijuana on the body

* Marijuana reduces brain energy, impairing the users' ability to remember,
  feel, think, anticipate, and predict.

* Because THC is stored in fatty tissues and works like a time-release
  capsule, regular marijuana smoking produces a constant state of sedation.

* Since THC remains in the center of motivation of the brain, it weakens
  the users' ability to live drug-free.

* The lungs of marijuana smokers are highly susceptible to emphysema and
  bronchitis.

* Research shows that marijuana contains cancer-causing agents.

* Marijuana impairs normal sexual development in both males and females.

* Heartbeat rate increses by as much as 50% through marijuana use.  Results
  are chest pains, and possible heart disease.

* Regular use causes a decrease in the blood supply to the heart, and
  siminishes white cell production.

* The body adjusts to regular use, making it essential to increase the
  amount used in order to achieve a "high".

* Continual marijuana use deteriorates the body's immune system.

Symptoms of Marijuana use

* Marked change in behavior patterns
* Carelessness about personal appearance
* Lack of motivation
* Reduction of short-term memory
* Excessive irritability
* Red eyes and fatigue
* Abrupt mood changes/outbursts of anger
* Less concern for the feelings of others
* Bouts of depression/paranoia
* Inability to react quickly/decreased coordination
* Inability to get along with family/co-workers/peers
* Loss of weight
* Sleeplessness [to go with the fatigue I suppose]
* Short concentration-span
* Highly susceptible to common infections
* Expressionless speech/blank stares
* Faulty perception (cannot accurately judge distances, speed or time)
* Decreased academic or work performance

Marijuana connection

  Some researchers have found a direct link between increased marijuana
use, and

  --juvenile and young adult crime such as theft

  --truancy and school drop-out rate

  --psychiatric referrals of adolescents and young adults

  --cases of teenage chronic organic brain syndrome (burnout)
    [chronic organic brain syndrome ?!?]

Lions Drug Awareness Program

  Since its inception in 1984, the Lions Drug Awareness Program has
emphasized prevention through education.  Lions are working together to 
join families, educators, and other key leaders in a concentrated effort
to create drug-free communities.

  Lions' primary focus is Lions-Quest "Skills for Adolescence," and Lions-
Quest "Skills for Growing."  These positive prevention curricula span
Kindergarten through eighth grade, and are helping young people choose
healthy lifestyles.

  For full details contact

  Lions Club International
  Special Research and Development Department
  300 22nd Street
  Oak Brook, IL  60521-8842
  Telephone: 708/571-5466

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While some of these "facts" are only partial truths, many of them are
absolute fabrications.  Unfortunately, they're a perfect example of those 
to which middle-America as represented by State Fair attendees is exposed
(along with all the ridiculous PDFA ads on TV) on a regular basis.  
Countering the Propaganda Machine is going to take a lot of persistent
work on the part of all of us who agree that "Drug Awareness" programs
like this one are misguided at best.

						-- dave

-- 
 /'''    The Machman       [email-masked]      david c carroll
 c-OO                                                                      
    \                     "Big Science.  Hallelujah"
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