You would think that after all the changes in opinion towards marijuana in the last almost twenty years since California first legalized it for medicinal use that maybe, just maybe, we would be past the point of slander campaigns.
Sadly, that does not seem to be the case as the newest “Reefer Madness” campaign sets out to tell lies to America’s youth. While I would never disagree to providing preventative education about substance use and abuse of all kinds, I do not agree with the way the information is being falsified.
The newest anti-marijuana campaign was created by a company called Fatal Vision, who has a new product called “Marijuana Goggles”. If you’ve never heard of or had to try the very similar “Beer Goggles” they are meant to skew your reality in a way that is similar to the effects of the substance.
While Beer Goggles do provide a very similar path of vision to that of being drunk (I’ve use those – if you ever have you know it is IMPOSSIBLE to walk a maze with them on), I do not see that these Marijuana Goggles are even remotely close to what they claim, which is to “see through the eyes of someone who has been smoking, without ever lighting up themselves”.
The goggles, from what I can tell, have no resemblance to what it is like to smoke marijuana. The students who participated in the activity found that the goggles eliminated the color red – demonstrated by the fact that they could not see a flashing red light or break lights.
I’m sure everyone here can agree, smoking marijuana will not cause you to lose the ability to see the color red…
Aside from the lack of the ability to see shades of red, these goggles also simulate the loss of cognitive functions – which is interesting since there are actually studies being done on marijuana’s ability to improve cognitive function, especially creativity.
With the goggles on the teens took four times as long to make it through a maze and were completely unable to read a map. Now think for a second – if you can’t even read a map, how could any artist make a masterpiece while stoned? Once again, it doesn’t seem like these goggles even remotely come close to “simulating the effects of marijuana”.
Then there is this statement…
“It’s very important to realize that these might not be the exact results, but these are very close to exactly what some people in our community our going out and driving in,” said New Palestine Senior Keelie Baker.
This one really bugs me – only because it is proof that these teens are believing the false information they are being given! I would never suggest to them to “just try it and see” – but maybe they could get their information from a reliable source?
Ranging from $975 to $2200, the Marijuana Goggles kits and campaign information are already starting to get around. We need to correct this before it gets too far – our children will not appreciate the fact that we’ve lied to them, when we could instead present them with FACTS and our own experience and opinions.
I can pretty much guarantee that kids and teens alike would rather have the truth – leaving them to make their own decisions about their life and their body.
