This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
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Hey you with the blue hoodie & puffy eyes on the 52 from Highfield Park on Friday…cut up your weed elsewhere! Kids ride that bus. And so do I. And I have no interest in your drug habits, nor does the majority of the city. It isn’t cool, and it isn’t le
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Kids also ride that bus that is a huge advertisement for Bacardi’s rum. Maybe because alcohol is legal it’s ok to SUPER advertise to kids in a place they have no choice but to be? They used to think that way about tobacco ads, but I have to admit that I’ve never seen a tobacco ad that large.
Oh know how dare someone expose your precious little child to something illegal. I don’t think that kids gonna be traumatized over seeing “green tobacco” I know I wasn’t
I love it. A couple of 12-year old chronics want to argue for supporting public pot consumption. BJ, the Bacardi ads are outside the bus. Tobacco ads are no longer legal outside of print journalism. I guess the weed made it too hard to read and be informed. Speaking of which, Zac, you either used “know” wrong, or your statement is missing a WHOLE bunch of words. Either way, your “arguments” are as lame as a pot smoker trying to do ANYTHING other than play video games, eat, sleep, and waste their lives. Wait, who taught you how to type?
Mathew wrote: BJ, the Bacardi ads are outside the bus. Tobacco ads are no longer legal outside of print journalism.===================The huge Bacardi ads are outside the bus indeed and kids boarding the bus line up to get on and cannot miss the ad. It’s IN YOUR FACE advertising to the vulnerable. Not just kids who really don’t need to get the message the ad portrays, but also to recovering alcoholics. Tobacco ads were everywhere at one time, inside and outside of buses, buildings, posters in stores, at every sports event, you name it, the tobacco ads were there. They were never as blatant as this bacardi ad is though and still they got generations of youth hooked on tobacco. Any substance that can be abused should have it’s content regulated from alcohol ads to tobacco ads to fast food ads. That’s my opinion anyway.
Matthew you sound like a narrow minded suburbanite that was brainwashed into thinking that all pot smokers waste their lives. This is the biggest load of shit I ever heard. Thats what we in the civilized culture call a “Stereotype” I for one am 18 years old not 12 and I have the right to vote in this country. I know many pot smokers who are very successful, and way more intelligent then you. You sound like a complete moron who gets all their info on pot from television. Which is not biased at all (rolls eyes)
“Any substance that can be abused should have it’s content regulated “LOL, I think I understand your sentiment but I don’t understand the logic in the statement. People abuse chips, cologne, hand sanitizer, air freshener … etc etc etc. I appreciate your opinion but how much responsibility does the gov’t need to have in our day to day lives? At the end of the day it comes down to parenting. Providing our children with the knowledge and helping to instill the values that help our children make the right choices. When I was young those values were instilled in me and occassionally I still made a bad decision … but there were consequences. It seems, IMO, there are fewer consequences these days. Again, in situations like this it comes down to good parenting and not gov’t regulation.Society, as a whole, has become far to reliant on our government to protect us. Regulate this, restrict that, liscense those … IT’S CRAZY!Getting back to the spirit of the post; it’s unfortunate there will always be idiots like that around. It would be easy to suggest telling the bus driver but we all know how proactive Metro Transit is in handling these type of situations.
Zac I think you need to look at this in a different manner. Don’t be so defencive. As someone who was a huge pot head and has recently stopped I can see both points of views. What the Kettle is saying is that he doesn’t appreciate being exposed to or having kids exposed to something that is ILLEGAL in such a public space. If the dude cutting the weed was prepping a needle or cutting up a line would you be okay with that. Smoke weed or don’t smoke weed. Who cares but if you are going to smoke it just keep it to yourself. It’s common courtesy.
Raoul & Michael – you guys said everything I thought I wouldn’t be able to fit into a bitch and still get it published. You both make excellent points.BJ – first of all, my name is published clearly and you still managed to spell it wrong. Also, based on your phrasing, you are asking for the regulation of ads rather than the products. Fair enough…except advertisements have been regulated since the advent of advertising. They are regulated for length, decency, visibility, and any other number of aspects. I’d also like to point out that the ads on the bus are indeed massive but are not designed for close consumption. Stand next to a bus with one and tell me how much of the picture you see clearly. Then again, some pot smokers may aimlessly look up and down the length of a bus repeatedly. I never did. Zac – I grew up in the city, not the suburbs. I have not been brainwashed as I know many successful “former” pot smokers. I am one of them. But when I did smoke pot, I didn’t do it in public. I didn’t think it was my right to force others to ingest something that was clearly destructive to myself as well as those around me (take note cigarette smokers). Having the capacity to vote doesn’t mean you do so. In fact, I highly doubt you have ever been to a polling station without one of your parents driving you there at their own exasperated urging. I get all of my knowledge from many resources: print, audio, and visual media alike. I also talk to people in the know: doctors, students, and my peers. I don’t speak about things without having enough knowledge to express an educated opinion. Can you say the same?
Mathhew wrote: ….advertisements have been regulated since the advent of advertising. They are regulated for length, decency, visibility, and any other number of aspects. I’d also like to point out that the ads on the bus are indeed massive but are not designed for close consumption. Stand next to a bus with one and tell me how much of the picture you see clearly. Then again, some pot smokers may aimlessly look up and down the length of a bus repeatedly. I never did. Clearly regulations have been abused and this particular ad is an example of that. What about the children standing at the bus stop on one side of the street and watch this bus go by? Are they not privy to this ad? Children take in advertising at an incredible pace and often turn wants into needs. Isn’t there enough underaged drinking to appease you or are you bound and determined there should be more? I firmly stand by absolute distaste and disgust of this ad.
*LMAO* BJ, I don’t know whether you are being clever (although not very) or if you are really so inept as to be incapable of spelling my name. I agree that underage drinking is a problem. I agree that the ads are improper. But I don’t think I ever disagreed that the ads were inappropriate. What I DID say was that advertising is regulated and, based on your phrasing, this was a point you had contested. What I ALSO stated was that standing at a bus stop, or next to a parked bus waiting to get on it, is a poor argument to make in regard to disapproving of the ads since proximity makes all the difference in taking in the ad in the first place.I’m just saying…