Do you remember the 1980s anti-drug campaign headed up by then first lady Nancy Reagan? If so, you might remember the campaign’s famous ‘Your Brain on Drugs’ ads. They were as serious as a broken leg back then. Today, they are the butt of jokes. But now, there is a new anti-marijuana push that could ultimately be in the same vein.
The new anti-marijuana campaign is aimed at kids. States are launching their own version of the campaign one by one. In Utah, they call it Gray Matters. It is a campaign that brings together a coalition of government agencies and nonprofits with the goal of educating kids about the dangers of using marijuana.
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Table of Contents
It’s All in the Name
What is the point of the campaign? It is all in the name. Gray matter is a reference to the human brain. The Gray Matter strategy is to educate kids about the dangers to their brains when exposed to THC. They want kids to avoid using the drug until their brains have finished developing. Otherwise, they could run into problems.
According to the Utah Health Department, which happens to be one of the major players in the Gray Matter coalition, marijuana use among minors whose brains haven’t fully developed can lead to:
- increased risk of depression
- difficulty in making good decisions
- inhibited performance in school
- impaired ability to manage emotions.
Like the ‘Your Brain on Drugs’ program, Gray Matters is intended to steer kids away from marijuana. Will it work? Only time will tell.
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Actions Say More Than Words
One of the reasons the ‘Your Brain on Drugs’ ad campaign has become such a joke is the fact that it was a colossal failure. The message itself wasn’t bad. In fact, the ads were pretty clever. The campaign did not work for the simple fact that actions speak louder than words.
How do you effectively tell a child to ‘just say no to drugs’ while you are holding a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other? Kids are not stupid. They see mom and dad using substances that are just as harmful to their health telling them to avoid things like marijuana and pills.
Gray Matters thinks their education campaign will work because kids trust their parents. The trust idea may be true. In fact, the campaign might be very effective in families where cannabis is never used. But if mom and dad use it, it is not likely their kids are going to pay any attention to Gray Matter messages.
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Educating in Recreational States
Gray Matters stands at least some chance of succeeding in Utah. The Beehive State is a medical-only state, according to the owners of the Deseret Wellness medical cannabis pharmacy in Park City. Adults who use cannabis medically should have an easier time because they have the advantage of being able to present cannabis as a medical product. Parents in neighboring states might not find it so easy.
States like Arizona and Colorado allow recreational cannabis use. That makes Gray Matters-type messaging that much more difficult. Parents using marijuana recreationally might find themselves in an untenable position as they try to steer their kids away from the drug.
Attempting to keep kids away from marijuana is a noble endeavor. But it is likely to be a failed endeavor over the long haul, especially if Congress eventually moves to completely decriminalize marijuana. We haven’t been very successful keeping kids away from alcohol, have we? What makes us think that educating them about marijuana will be any different?
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