Kansas City Star
Marijuana Enters New Age, While Propaganda Remains Stuck in Last Century
Research into marijuana was almost non existent for the 20th century. In the 21st century, clinical trials are finally being commissioned, trying to make up for decades of lost research time. Blatant propaganda had previously been a staple for the criminalization crowd, those who wish to see our jails overcrowded with non violent criminals. However, as positive patient testimonials, the realization that the war on drugs is a colossal failure, and a desire to regain some individual choices take hold on the American public, wreck less propaganda has begun to fade away.
The self righteous criminalization crowd now realizes they have to be more covert when trying to mislead. They may troll the internet for vulnerable comment sections on blogs, or share exaggerated or factually incorrect articles on social media. It came as a huge surprise to us to see vintage propaganda prominently featured on the Kansas City Star’s webpage. Proving that so much deception could not be successfully crafted by one person, both Ravikumar Chockalingam and Dragan Svrakic needed to collaborate to complete a recent article titled “The risks of marijuana are many”.
The article starts with the following:
Imagine the public outrage if a toxic drug was approved without any regulation for “recreational” use in adults and children that suppresses the immune system, causes schizophrenia, mental illness, brain and lung disease including cancer and death. Also, many long-term and frequent users of this toxic drug have lowered IQs, impaired memory, poor judgment and diminished driving ability.
It does not exactly improve from there. The authors go on to cite marijuana as a “toxic drug” while ignoring obvious comparisons to legal opiates and alcohol’s “toxic” effect. Even stranger, they try and scare readers regarding a fictional “nightmare health scenario” that other states outside of Kansas and Missouri are experiencing. Driving and marijuana is actually a discussion that needs to occur, but there is conflicting evidence to suggest that it causes more accidents. In fact, in certain states where medical marijuana is legal, DWIs and fatal crashes have actually gone down. The authors also claim there is no medical evidence to support marijuana’s medical efficacy. That is incorrect as even the U.S. government has commissioned studies that highlight marijuana’s wide array of medical uses, including the potential to fight cancer.
Of course the article also uses the standard condescension, where patient testimonials are irrelevant and we should not trust people when they tell us about their improved quality of life and reduction in pain, nausea, PTSD, seizures… the list goes on. Patients from different walks of life, politically, financially, and ethnically, all have gotten together during times where their health has deteriorated, to fake marijuana’s benefits. At least this is what the article in the Kansas City Star implying.
While (psychiatry resident) and Dragan Svrakic (associate professor) are both part of the Washington University School of Medicine, they seem to be lagging behind the medical leaders in our country. Even Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN contributor and President Obama’s choice for Surgeon General (Dr. Gupta turned down the offer) has reversed his opposition to medical marijuana, and admitted he was wrong. When leading physicians, clinical trials, and patients all report the benefits of medical marijuana, we can only hope the two authors of the article will take notice. We at marijuana.net noticed an unusual amount of blanket statements and a lack of evidence provided for these outrageous claims. The American public does not seem to be buying the scare tactics of last century as the vast majority (85% according to a Fox News Poll) of residents here support medical marijuana. It may be time for Ravikumar Chockalingam and Dragan Svrakic to abandon the propaganda, or at least utilize more subtle and modern techniques.