MedicalNeed
New Member
So I was recently featured in National Geographic’s pot documentary, “High On Marijuana,”– widely criticized in the cannabis community for its alarmist portrayal of the herb – with reassaurances that it would be an impartial, wholly scientific look at cannabis. Well, I can confidently say that the special was flagrantly misleading editing, fox news style broken logic with unsubstantiated assumptions, fear-mongering, and fallacious reasoning and nothing more than a heaping pile of balder(h)ash. Moreover, it made Fox News look like the BBC and, in fact, not even Fox News president Roger Ailes himself could’ve distorted so quickly and blindly.
I mean, it was hard for me to seriously think this was a scientific special when I heard the narrator describe the onset of marijuana’s effects as like “herbal terrorists taking over the brain”?! I guess one can infer that smoking marijuana is killing American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and that it was a bong that hijacked American jets and flew them into the WTC and Pentagon?? It’s just SO obvious!!!
At any rate, I was approached to make an appearance on National Geographic documentary on marijuana in which was to show myself smoking, having me explain the effects it has on my comedic creativity and medical relief, and that all this would be properly explained and substantiated by expert testimony.
They even shot myself doing a little stand-up on the ridiculousness of our social attitudes towards pot and the inanity of the federal War On Drugs.I frequently made mention of my official diagnosed Anxiety Disorder several times during the shoot and yet it did not show up in the piece.
Instead, the marketing ‘geniuses’ over at Nat Geo–who I suppose double as Fox News fact-checkers during the day–cleverly edited my shoot to make me look like an irreposnisble stoner who is going to die. Of course, one should engage in such salubrious activities as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and eating whatever the hell Jimmy Dean makes.
With about 10% of U.S. prisoners are serving time for marijuana-related charges and costing Americans $1 billion dollars a year, I agreed to to do this under the promise that no cheap shots would be taken, I wouldn’t be depicted as some lazy stoner, and the science would be accurate and value-neutral.
It was neither ‘scientific’ nor ‘value-neutral, which confounded me since Nat Geo has presented previous specials on marijuana in a fair and impartial manner. Who knows, maybe the good people at Merck and Eli Lilly threw buckets of cash at them
As the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet, says with regards to marijuana:
Many in the cannabis community seem to agree with me on the suspicion of Nat Geo’s funding for the project.
According to one observer of the scene,”National Geographic probably got grants from either a private entity who favors the status quo (i.e., Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of Johnson & Johnson fame), or governmental (NIDA, NIH, SAMHSA, ONDCP, etc.) to produce this expensive series on ‘drugs.’ ”
In short, it was quite upsetting to see such a credible outfit as Nat Geo take such a decidedly uninformed and slippery direction on the issue of marijuana use.
News Hawk: MedicalNeed 420 MAGAZINE
Source: my.firedoglake.com
Author: Michael Hayne
Contact: firedoglake.com
Copyright: 2011 firedoglake.com
Website:My Appearance on Nat Geo Special 'Drugged: High on Marijuana
I mean, it was hard for me to seriously think this was a scientific special when I heard the narrator describe the onset of marijuana’s effects as like “herbal terrorists taking over the brain”?! I guess one can infer that smoking marijuana is killing American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and that it was a bong that hijacked American jets and flew them into the WTC and Pentagon?? It’s just SO obvious!!!
At any rate, I was approached to make an appearance on National Geographic documentary on marijuana in which was to show myself smoking, having me explain the effects it has on my comedic creativity and medical relief, and that all this would be properly explained and substantiated by expert testimony.
They even shot myself doing a little stand-up on the ridiculousness of our social attitudes towards pot and the inanity of the federal War On Drugs.I frequently made mention of my official diagnosed Anxiety Disorder several times during the shoot and yet it did not show up in the piece.
Instead, the marketing ‘geniuses’ over at Nat Geo–who I suppose double as Fox News fact-checkers during the day–cleverly edited my shoot to make me look like an irreposnisble stoner who is going to die. Of course, one should engage in such salubrious activities as smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and eating whatever the hell Jimmy Dean makes.
With about 10% of U.S. prisoners are serving time for marijuana-related charges and costing Americans $1 billion dollars a year, I agreed to to do this under the promise that no cheap shots would be taken, I wouldn’t be depicted as some lazy stoner, and the science would be accurate and value-neutral.
It was neither ‘scientific’ nor ‘value-neutral, which confounded me since Nat Geo has presented previous specials on marijuana in a fair and impartial manner. Who knows, maybe the good people at Merck and Eli Lilly threw buckets of cash at them
As the prestigious European medical journal, The Lancet, says with regards to marijuana:
Many in the cannabis community seem to agree with me on the suspicion of Nat Geo’s funding for the project.
According to one observer of the scene,”National Geographic probably got grants from either a private entity who favors the status quo (i.e., Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of Johnson & Johnson fame), or governmental (NIDA, NIH, SAMHSA, ONDCP, etc.) to produce this expensive series on ‘drugs.’ ”
In short, it was quite upsetting to see such a credible outfit as Nat Geo take such a decidedly uninformed and slippery direction on the issue of marijuana use.
News Hawk: MedicalNeed 420 MAGAZINE
Source: my.firedoglake.com
Author: Michael Hayne
Contact: firedoglake.com
Copyright: 2011 firedoglake.com
Website:My Appearance on Nat Geo Special 'Drugged: High on Marijuana
