Thanks to Marie Claire, Pot Discussed Rationally on Today Show

Marie Claire magazine's recent article, Stiletto Stoners, has touched a nerve with professional women across the country. A recent study showed an estimated 8 million American women used marijuana last year (those are the ones that admitted to it) and we're not talking about the 16 year old girl buying grass in the school parking lot after she "discovered" Janis Joplin.

These professionals are living a fast paced lifestyle - they don't have time for alcohol, for hangovers, or spending nights barhopping. All points you'll find in Marijuana is Safer: So why are we driving people to drink?

Sure, it's no surprise to most people that you can be successful and smoke marijuana. Just look at our past presidents... eh, on second though, look at Michael Phelps or Rick Steves. But Marie Claire doesn't stop there and touches on how pot prohibition has negative effects on families around the country that marijuana use alone could never have. Looking for life insurance to protect your family? Well, you'd better not test positive for even trace amounts of THC.

The Today show covered the article, bringing onto the show Dr. Julie Holland, a psychiatrist at the New York University School of Medicine and Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles to discuss the article and the "growing trend" of professional women smoking pot. The segment is definitely pro regulation and filled with common sense and honesty about responsible marijuana use by adults. It seems the discussion has made this demographic feel good about what they're doing. Watch the video to hear Dr. Holland get the last word.

Just like he did with the Michael Phelps interview, Matt Lauer plays devils advocate, acting as if he just can't believe that women who smoke marijuana are successful and contributing members of society and not the deflated, lazy stoners we see running over children on bikes in a Wendy's drive-thru (as seen on TV of course). He makes sure to ask about the "dark side" of this story and I think it's clear that there is a very dark side; marijuana is illegal even for responsible adults to use in the privacy of their own home after a hard day at work.

Attention Fellow Undergrads: I am a Sober Virgin

Here's an example of an attempt at harm-reduction gone terribly wrong:

MADD announces an exclusive license agreement with Hill Street Marketing Inc. to produce a line of alcohol-free beverages, MADD Virgin Drinks, which will provide American consumers with a delicious and socially responsible alternative to alcoholic beverages.

Cool. I'm down with non-alcoholic beverages (although I prefer a nice, frosty, alcoholic Guinness myself). I'm definitely NOT down with drunk driving. But whatever you think about alcohol, MADD, or this campaign, you have to admit that dubbing these beverages "virgin" is just a dumb marketing move.

After all, if you're trying to get 19 year old college guys to buy your product, you're not going to have much luck asking them to carry a bottle around a party with the word "virgin" on it.

Once again, this shows that MADD is entirely out of touch with the constituency they claim to protect, and is more interested in promoting prohibitionist, puritanical "values" than actually saving lives. They've made a product that might be popular with the already-cautious "abstinence-only" crowd, but will do nothing to actually reach those who are most likely to engage in risky behavior.

Whether or not you're a virgin, SSDP strongly recommends that you stay safe and sensible by carrying around some Screw the Drug War condoms... just in case.



[Thanks, Pete]