Television goes up in smoke

[ridgerunner]

Marijuana is hitting an all-time high on the small screen

By Tamara Ikenberg
[e-mail]
The Courier-Journal

Nancy Botwin is a widowed suburban soccer mom who happens to sell marijuana to support her family. Played by Mary-Louise Parker, she's the star of Showtime's fresh half-hour dramedy "Weeds," which made its debut on Monday.

An attentive parent and a member of the PTA, Nancy is one of many sane, seemingly everyday TV characters who relate to reefer.

The Supreme Court may have voted against legalizing medical marijuana, but that hasn't stopped pot from cropping up all over cable TV, where you're more likely to see a joint dangling from a character's lips than a cigarette.

>snip

When you look at the stats on marijuana use, these characters aren't that out of sync with society: According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly half of Americans over the age of 12 have tried marijuana at least once.

more: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050813/FEATURES07/508130340/1042

[Mythsaje]

1. One of the great things

about Showtime is its willingness to tackle issues like this... On Queer As Folk it was common for the characters to share a joint from time to time.

They pointed out the dangers of Meth addiction, but everyone seemed to take pot in stride.

I saw the first episode of WEEDS and laughed quite a bit.

[Kali]

2. good and bad

as they mention in the article the mainstreaming of gay characters helps mid-america see them as normal and same with pot BUT there was a backlash with the marriage issue - what will the wingers' backlash on pot be?

[CrispyQ]

3. Not sure the backlash could be much worse than the current status.

Isn't pot classified in the same category as heroin? What a frickin' joke. IMO pot is more benign than alcohol.

[ridgerunner]

4. Yeah, it can't get much worse

At least things have improved somewhat. It wasn't too long ago that TV shows put in anti-cannabis messages because the government cut a deal with them that if they did they wouldn't have to run anti-drug commercials which allowed them to sell the spots to advertisers.

[CrispyQ]

11. I didn't realize that!!

I've seen those types of anti-drug messages & have wondered that it came from Hollywood. Now I know why.

:hi:

[ridgerunner]

12. here's a good article from Salon about it

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/01/13/drugs/

[Kali]

7. "Not sure the backlash could be much worse than the current status." -

"Not sure the backlash could be much worse than the current status."
True, but then these f*cks constantly surprise me with the depths they will sink.

Death penalty for posession? Who knows? the US has become such a scary place.

[CrispyQ]

10. OMG!! I think I have a flake or two from years ago in my

archived 'drug box.' Maybe I should scrub everything from my past just to be sure, huh?


LOL!! You are so right about the lengths they will go. One DUer says: "We've not only reached the bottom, now we're digging."


:rofl:

[Lefty48197]

5. Marijuana is a "gateway" drug

First it leads you to become a drunken cocaine fiend. Then it makes you invade countries for no reason.

[CrispyQ]

6. Geez, all it ever made me do was raid the fridge!

LOL

And to think I could have been invading other countries!

[Kali]

8. You actually got me with the subject line

now I have to clean my monitor!

[RaleighNCDUer]

9. lol