Study Suggests MPP Was Right: Lying to Kids Doesn’t Work
One point upon which MPP agrees with federal officials is that kids shouldn’t use marijuana recreationally. But we’ve criticized exaggerated ad campaigns from the drug czar’s office on the grounds that lying to kids is likely to backfire. A study published recently by the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors suggests we’re right.
Based on a two-year survey of adolescents, researchers looked at how changes in teens’ expectations regarding the effects of using marijuana (i.e., that it would “mess up my life” or lead to being “more creative and imaginative,” etc.) affected whether or not they began to use it. Changes in expectations did correlate with the teens’ decisions to use marijuana, with the correlation noticeably stronger among those who started using marijuana in the second year of the survey than among those who didn’t. This suggests, the researchers write, that changes in expectations “brought about by actual experiences have greater effects” on intentions to use than do changes in expectations based on second-hand sources, like what teens hear from parents, teachers, friends, etc.
Translation: If you tell kids that smoking marijuana will turn them into heroin addicts, and then they try marijuana and no such thing happens, real-world experience will pulverize the propaganda every time. Or, as the researchers explain it:
“When threatened outcomes are experienced as less severe than anticipated, intentions to engage in threatened behavior may be amplified.”
Put more simply, lying to kids does more harm than good. There are lots of good reasons for teens not to use marijuana as a toy, but in explaining this to them, there is simply no substitute for telling the truth.
10 comments
Duh, maybe it’s just me but I’ve noticed the perceptions and publc views on marijuana have gotten significantly more attention since as soon as 2 or 3 years ago. There’s more and more positive studies and articles on the web and even getting some attention from mainstream media. For the first time since I started following the culture I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s getting closer and I believe we’ll get nationwide medical legalization within this year and probably recreational with the state of our economy. Just need one politician to really stick their neck out. Or maybe the Million Marijuana March on July 4. I know I’ll be going. A million person protest might get some attention.
I’d love to see more organization from whoever is in charge. Start to really hype it up get it coverage on the main activist sites. Maybe a mock sign up sheet to see how many would be willing to show up. People need to know that this can be a really big deal if done right. Hope to see everyone there
I am with Drewbob, I think I see the light too. The march should happen, I have heard rumblings, if this is going to happen then we need to organized.
Getting addicted to alcohol, coffee or tobacco is bad but using less addictive marijuana is okay. HMMMM!
drewbob,
“Just need one politician to really stick their neck out. ”
Like this lady right here?
http://hightimes.com/news/mikeg_ht/5088
The fire’s been lit. Everyone gather ’round!
Optimism is great, and we do seem to have a teeny bit of momentum, but keep paying your dues to MPP, DPA, LEAP, ASA, NORML and DRCNET anyway. I remember that wave of optimism hitting me back in ‘96.
I know this from personal experience lol. The D.A.R.E program made it sound like marijauna was the worst thing in the world, and it will ruin you life…I smoked it for the past..4 years or so, and ever since that first hit, and those after, it makes me how much BS is fed to you on how Marijuana is so bad for you.
Having been a DARE “graduate,” I remember initially believing what we were taught. But before too long finding out the truth about herb also invalidated the truths about many harder drugs. Its essential that we tell kids the TRUTH, because once they realize they have been lied to, why the hell should they listen again? I now know that Ganja makes me think more creatively, rationally, evaluating tough decisions easier (with positive outcomes), and simply puts me in touch with reality, and thats just the beginning of its amazing potential. It is so important that kids know the truth and differences about cannabis, psychadelics, and especially hard drugs like heroin and cocaine. These substances will never disappear, so it is necessary we implement a truthful harm reduction approach. The fact that marijuana has reached this level of illegality will one day be an example in textbooks of the unecessary suffering of millions of people, naive political approaches and just plain absurdity!!!
In the old (I mean REALLY old) days, the way parents kept kids from wandering off in to the woods was to tell them scary stories, like Hansel and Gretel. It seems to me there are two main outcomes, the kids are scarred for life, afraid of the woods, or realize their parents lied.
As the kids get older they may reflect and understand why their parents told them tall tales when they were younger, but surely as the kids get older, they are allowed (or required) to go in to the woods by themselves. I mean the woods don’t always stay “verboten.”
But the tall tales of the drug myth lords today are unlike that, they want to keep everyone out, always, and not let us enjoy the wonderful woods, the great outdoors.
In related news, I wasn’t inculcated in DARE mythology as a youngster, but I am the creative type. So, in the same vein that people tease PETA by saying “People Eating Tasty Animals,” I tease DARE with “Drugs Are Really Excellent.” Actually this is the first time I’ve shared that.
(Please don’t take this as a recommendation to “do drugs.” Please enjoy your earthy herbs and mushrooms responsibly.
)
I have to admit that I fell for the lies. I completed AZ’s D.A.R.E program in the 6th grade. The big lie was that marijuana was the most dangerous drug, and that it was a “gateway” drug. When I did try smoking pot, and realized that it wasn’t destroying my life (as Ronald Reagan kept asserting), I figured that they were lying to me about coke, heroin, and speed. So, due to the lies, marijuana did become a “gateway” to dangerous drug use.
yes, johnny. lying to kids about how harmful marijuana is will lead kids to believe that other harder drugs are ok after smoking pot and finding out that the govt. lied to them. This pisses me off more than marijuana prohibition because when kids try these harder drugs (since they think they are ok b/c the govt. lied to them about marijuana) it could potentially ruin their lives if they become a junkie… Govt. lying in this fashion does probably lead to marijuana being used as a gateway drug. You catch my drift people?
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