Adrienne Glenn is not pleased with how marijuana has been portrayed on television or in films. She usually writes about other social topics in The Pitt News. She finds the way that television has portrayed marijuana is unfair and misleading to the truth about marijuana. She also discusses how there are little to no films or shows that display the reality of marijuana use for medical purposes and how it isn’t as harmful as people believe it to be.
Now in recent years there have been many shows that depict the use and selling of marijuana. However, these depictions are flat and end up the same way. The user is someone that appears less intelligent and the sellers end up going to prison for their deeds. This display doesn’t represent how marijuana can be good and have a positive effect on people especially those that need it medicinally. It also fails to represent why some people resort to selling the drug illegally, Glenn mentions. The media has fed these images to the public and have created a notion that marijuana is wrong in every light. Glenn, goes on to discuss the medicinal benefits of marijuana and how it’s main chemicals help against things like pain and inflammation. Although, as Glenn states, marijuana is the most popular drug among adults, these reports have not made it to the media. Glenn argues that the misrepresentation of marijuana is what is perpetuating the fear associated with it.
Glenn then moves to shortly discuss the positive portrayals of marijuana in a recent documentary. The documentary records the long-term effects on someone who smoked daily after a month of cleansing. There appeared to be no effects on the person. Glenn comments, that this is exactly the type of thing the media needs to do when it comes to representing marijuana in order for there to be progress on the subject. Which is true if we are going to want reasonable debates on whether or not marijuana is something that should be legal or banned altogether.
This research is valuable because it addresses how marijuana is portrayed and the way people see it. It is true that it is seen in a more negative light because of such portrayals but in order to truly asses whether or not pot should be legalized we need to be informed on both sides of the subject. This research may be valuable to others because maybe they have only seen the negative side that is portrayed in media and refuse to think twice about having a ration discussion on the subject.
Adrianna’s response to the medias portrayal was quite blunt and made me realize her point of view in a way I had forgotten. Every time there was someone smoking/ selling marijuana on some sort of TV show, it was always that same type of person. This has happened so much that it has blinded my view on how biased the media is and how there is actually other scenarios involving marijuana. Therefore, it was good having a reminder to snap me back into reality.
I agree on what Adrienne says about the way television has portrayed marijuana is unfair and misleading about marijuana. I liked the way she talks about the media and how in this case they showed marijuana in a positive light. I found this source very helpful to the argument I am making.
I had not really thought about users of marijuana being seen as negative much but this article and your summary do make a point. Like in the show Orange is The New Black you see that the inmates are real people that deal with real things. This is almost enough to forget that most of the characters are in prison for marijuana related reasons and they are ultimately portrayed are criminals. I now do agree more with Glenn’s thoughts that the media is portraying marijuana and its users in a negative way.
I definitely agree with the stigma that Marijuana attracts because of media portrayal, and that so far has rendered the legalization movement stale. If there was an actual awareness of the benefits of marijuana the media wouldn’t have a choice but to get on board. Reading over this summary I am realizing how big of a role that the media has played throughout this marijuana saga, and to recognize the negative influence its had is very disconcerting.
I agree in the use of marijuana for medical purposes only, and also agree how the media and journalism focuses on the negatives of marijuana legalization more than the health related positives. The media strays their stories however they want their audience to receive them and frankly, the media is steering away from its positive use. The influence such portrayal has is drastic on society, therefore making the debate more complex with many media outlets weighing their own viewpoints in.
I agree that the media’s portrayal of marijuana is more often than not seen in a negative light. The medical use of marijuana needs to become more exposed to the public eye whether in TV shows, movies, etc. After reading this summary, I realized that the positive aspects of marijuana are being hidden behind what the media chooses to show its viewers.
Being an RTF major, this blog definitely caught my attention. I agree with Adrienne when she says that media gives marijuana a negative portrayal. Similarly to most issues, the media tends to falsely portray things in order to force a certain viewpoint. It’s makes me wonder if more people would be on board with marijuana legalization if it were depicted by the media in a more positive light rather than negative.
I also do not like the way alcohol is presented in the media as well, but what are we going to do about it? The elephant in the room is that there won’t be a perfect solution to marijuana, but we know that there is a better solution and that would be to just overall recreationally legalize it. It’ll happen in the near future, we just need the older generation to agree with us. You can’t please everybody, but it has way more pro’s than con’s.
Television has displayed Marijuana as something negative and terrible on society. Although there are some negative connotations to Marijuana, it does have some positive aspects such as in medicine. I think people need to see both sides for Marijuana and then they should conclude their opinions it.
The media has made marijuana more of what it actually. Honestly, marijuana can help out so many people with medical conditions, but thanks to how the media portrays it, people are scared of doing further research. People get addicted to pain killers, so I don’t see how marijuana is seen as “evil” if it’s not addicting and can be less harmful than morphine and pain killers. The stereotype for marijuana really needs to stop.
That is so true, i never realized it until now that the media does portray marijuana use as something only criminals use. Yeah its true that a lot of criminals are using it illegally, but there are still real people who use the plant because it is the only way to for them to ease their pain.
This article really opens up my mind, I never thought about how marijuana is portrayed on the media. With the increase in shows that revolve around marijuana they normally show the black market point of view, but maybe they show that side of it because that is the most interesting viewpoint that TV viewers want to see.