Combating Ignorance on Twitter – Handling BISS’s
So I am fairly new to Twitter, but I must say that it is a great tool and I am having a lot of fun meeting new people, networking, and utilizing it to the fullest extent possible.
Something I hadn’t expected was the ability to actually interface one-on-one with people who are against legalization of marijuana (or even anti-marijuana as a whole).
One such case began a few days with a user by the name of Chloe1732 who I had come across while looking for people twittering about marijuana. The original twitter post, which was either deleted by Chloe or is currently not showing up on twitter, was directed at another user (CNave) and claimed that marijuana was “dangerous”.
I’m going to be posting the various points Chloe made and responding to them in more depth than the 140 character limit of twitter would allow. If you read this, Chloe, which I have no doubt you will, feel free to contact me with your response and I will happily reply to it.
My goal here is not to poke fun at those who are ignorant of reality, rather, it is to help show one of the most common types of anti-marijuana individual and how best to deal with them. I like to refer to them as Because-I-Said-So’s, in that most of their logic relies on anecdotal evidence, myth, and pure opinion. When dealing with a BISS, offering facts, science, or other pieces of tangible evidence rarely results in the person actually changing their mind, but it is always worth trying.
SMtF: Actually, marijuana has been used medicinally before “pot heads” existed. Marijuana is no more dangerous than caffeine.
This was my original comment… a friendly attempt to correct her false assumptions about Marijuana and possibly spur a conversation (which it did).
My claim, however, is not without merit. While many people have accepted caffeine as their daily drug of choice, they rarely know that it comes with its own list of side-effects including fast heart rate, excessive urination, nausea, vomiting, restlessness, anxiety, depression, tremors, and difficulty sleeping.
Even pregnant women are advised to avoid the substance due to risk of birth defects.
Is caffeine relatively safe? Of course. But it being relatively safe does not dismiss the fact that if you are an irresponsible person you can do harm to yourself by using it. And that is the key: choice.
If, however, we are to compare substances purely on their addictive properties, then marijuana is indeed safer than caffeine.
Chloe1732: “Pot no different than caffeine”. Right. And monkeys are flying out of my *ss. It’s a MIND ALTERING DRUG. U can drink coffee & drive.
Predictably, the response was a complete dismissal of the original claim accompanied by more unfounded claims.
The obvious question here is, “why is the ability to drive while taking a drug the qualifier for it being good or not?” Ontop of that, there really is no data showing that it is impossible or even dangerous to drive while using marijuana. In fact, this myth has been disputed time and again.
While the link I just posted to NORML contains countless amount of research, most BISS’s will disregard it as being irrelevant or untrustworthy no matter how cited and researched the subject may be. This is expected, however, so it is dealt with patiently.
Realistically, marijuana consumption is similar to alcohol consumption in that effects range from person to person depending on their tolerance to the substance and how much of the substance is ingested. For example, a frat guy from the football team may be able to do several shots of hard alcohol and still function at an acceptable level of consciousness; I, on the other hand, do not drink alcohol, which means I would most likely become inebriated after only a few.
In short, becoming “high” is something that usually must be attempted, as it is not guranteed. Some medical users are able to medicate using fractions of a gram (near .05g to .1g) per dose. Compare this to the average use of one gram per marijuana cigarette and you can see the differences in consumption and even impairment.
Chloe1732: How can you seriously compare coffee with MJ? One keeps you awake anand alert. The other RETARDS you. You are so far gone. No wonder.
Another common tactic used by BISS’s is dismissal via condesention, but let’s look into this claim. Does marijuana “retard” you? Well, that’s a hard question in itself since I really have no idea what is implied by “retards you”. So let us instead take a look at what marijuana is exactly. As pointed out in our NIDA – Truth Edition post, marijuana only contains about 61 unique chemicals called cannabinoids. While cannabinoids sound like they only exist in cannabis, they are actually vital in many various biological functions ranging from brain activity to having anti-inflammatory effects.
Yes, that is correct. In case you were not aware, your body not only creates cannabinoids naturally, but it relies heavily on them. Cannabinoids are not only the reason why marijuana is such a unique plant, but why it has so much medicinal potential.
My attempt to get Chloe to show me the facts was met with the, again, very predictable response:
Chloe1732: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
As stated before, BISS’s rely heavily on anecdotal evidence while forming their opinion. Logically, anecdotal evidence–while great to support proven-facts or incite research–is weak and should in no way take the place of actual evidence.
For example, my uncle once got terribly ill after eating a green apple. Two days later, my aunt also became seriously ill after eating an apple. My friend, who lives in another state, ate a green apple the following week and became seriously ill. Are green apples bad? Was this just a coincidence, or is there something more? (Also, this story is not true and I just made it up to really drive home the flaw of anecdotal evidence. Nice, huh?)
The fact is that human beings love to find patterns, even if no patterns exist. Our brains are programmed to find patterns and piece together information. Much worse, our brains will even lie to us–a phnomenon known as source amnesia–if it will help someone come to terms with information.
In the same way that some societies still believe witches exist, or even how people come to beleive any urban legend, fear and ignorance are catalysts for hate.
Chloe1732: Hmmm, smoke in lungs is always bad. Otherwise firefighters wouldn’t wear masks.
Often, a BISS will ignore the fact that marijuana can be ingested and used many ways other than smoking it. Aside from using a vaporizer, which does not combust the plant matter and allows for a much healthier alternative to smoking, marijuana can be baked into foods, turned into tinctures that can be applied on the skin, made into lip-balms, and even salad dressings to name a few.
But, again, let’s investigate this claim. Is marijuana smoke bad for the lungs? Well, the common-sense approach says you should avoid contact with anything other than air with your lungs, but then again common-sense is based on assumption.
When it comes to marijuana, there is no evidence that suggests marijuana is, for example, as dangerous as other types of smoke such as tobacco smoke. In fact, there is no link to lung cancer at all. From what research is available, it is shown that marijuana may actually help combat cancerous tumors.
Chloe1732: Thesick person needing pot” argument is lame.If there are actually helpful properties in MJ,science wld hve turned it into drug by now
Chloe1732: I feel for the few who could be helped in terms of pain relief. I would support scientists trying to isolate ingredients in MJ 4 that.
One of the most sad realities of our current culture is the need for a nanny-like-state to make sure we never need to fend for ourselves. For thousands of years, before science existed to create synthesized drugs, people used naturally occurring substances to treat themselves. To be clear, I am in no way saying that there is not a need for science, as it has developed countless amounts of drugs which help keep millions upon millions of people alive and healthy. But just because pharmaceutical companies have a pill for everything doesn’t mean the benefits of natural substances are negated.
The true irony comes in the form of pharmaceutical companies synthesizing natural substances; not so much to improve them, but because you can’t patent a natural occurring substance (which means you can’t charge lots of money for the drug). Dronabinol, known commercially as Marinol®, is a synthesized and patented copy of the THC molecule. While an average ounce of marijuana will cost $300 (only around $10 per ounce if grown yourself), the monthly cost for Marinol® is between $200 and $800 per month. For many, dronabinol is simply not affordable or a financially viable option, especially for those without health insurance (such as 46 million Americans).
Another issue with natural vs. synthesized is that no matter how close a synthesized product gets to the naturally occurring substance, it will never be the same. In marijuana, for example, it is believed that various cannabinoids work together to produce the desired effects/healing properties of marijuana. If this is true, then substances like dronabinol would not be equivalent to ingestion of marijuana simply because it is only 1 of many cannabinoids (THC). And let’s not forget that some patients already claim complications from dronabinol.
Chloe1732: Unlike cigarettes, it is a seriously mind-altering drug.I don’t buy the “brownie” argument ‘cuz most people smoke it’s a gateway drug.
This is one of the most blatantly ignorant sentences I have ever come across while debating marijuana. Cigarettes, as any child knows, contain nicotine. Nicotine is not only one of the worst mind-altering substances in existence, it has been used for centuries as a pesticide.
Since marijuana is non-addictive, your average person deprived of marijuana will have no withdrawals whatsoever. A tobacco smoker deprived of nictotine, however, will not have it as easy due to nicotine’s affect on the brain.
Chloe managed to fit two very-false points into her 140-characters, the other being the much popular “gateway drug” myth. There isn’t much to say other than it is a blatant myth.
The “logic” behind the gateway drug myth basically relies on the fact that many people who use harder drugs also claim to have used marijuana as their first drug. This is absurd on numerous levels, such as the definition of “drug”. For example, it would be fair to assume that many people–even prior to the use of marijuana–used aspirin on a regular basis. Under the same logic, we could claim that aspirin is a gateway drug.
The reality is that many people use marijuana as their first drug because it is relatively easy to obtain (or even grow yourself). It is also used heavily in social ocassions making it more likely to encounter while at, for example, a party.
But again, logic aside, the science just doesn’t support the myth.
Chloe1732: Journal of the American Medical Association study shows those who use MJ are more likely than nonusers to move onto harder drugs.
While this claim is similar to the last, I wanted to focus on it for the sheer fact that it magnifies the reason we need more studies. According to a review of the article by a Dr. Andrew Byrne, a Medical Practitioner in New South Wales, Australia:
“These results are all derived single follow-up telephone interviews with an unknown party over matters relating to illegal drug use, child sex abuse and other personal issues up to 15 years earlier. Some may have chosen to (falsely) deny childhood cannabis use and then to also deny adult abuse or dependency. Others may have had faulty recollection for such distant events, making the findings less secure.”
(MAPS: JAMA: Twin study fails to prove ‘gateway’ hypothesis.)
In layman’s terms, the study was done very poorly and the results are highly suspect at best and completely unscientific at worst.
Chloe1732: Call yourself whatever you want, your cause goes against the moral foundations that this country was built on.
The real humor on this is I have no doubt that our forefathers would be appalled at the current status of cannabis in this country. Hemp, the industrial brother of marijuana, is illegal in this day and age, yet between 1763 and 1767 it was illegal in Virginia not to grow hemp during a shortage. Even during World War 2, the US government encouraged farmers to grow hemp during their Hemp for Victory campaign.
Much of the reason hemp is still illegal is due to the reason it was first made illegal, which happened to be more about lobbyists, money, and corporate competition than than “public safety” (after all, logically, what harm does hemp pose to the public?).
So that, Chloe, is why your statement is absurd. While marijuana is indeed not the same as hemp, it is illegal in part because of how great hemp is. Where is the moral foundation of making a plant illegal to satisfy the needs and stock prices of corporations?
Chloe1732: If you weren’t sick, you wouldn’t NEED it. Like Chemo is actually poison to the body, a healthy person wouldn’t do it.
A common misconception among those not well versed in current research is that marijuana is somehow–or should somehow–be reserved for only the most sick of the sick; as if marijuana is only good as a type of “last-resort” among medicines.
Realistically, there is much research to show that marijuana has a lot of promise to work as a preventative measure against various cancers.
But marijuana use for the terminally ill is just one facet of the various uses of marijuana. For example, marijuana is proving to be a safer alternative to methylphenidate for people suffering from ADHD and ADD. Others have found marijuana to be a superior pain reliever for menstrual cramps and other lower-abdominal pains and cramps.
The fact is that you don’t need to be “sick” to benefit from marijuana, and it would be hypocritical and illogical to claim that marijuana is safe only for “sick” people, but too dangerous for healthy people.
In conclusion…
The battle to legalize marijuana will be long and hard, but to truly win we must educate. As long as people continue to hold onto their antiquated belief systems, they will resent and fear what they do not understand.
A special thanks to Chloe for engaging me in conversation over the past few days.
I sincerely hope this post will help educate others not only in regards to marijuana facts, but also in ettiquette on how to handle and debate BISS’s.
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March 22nd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
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June 29th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I would first like to say thank you for the site. It is one of the most informative and educational sites about marijuana I have seen. The fight to legalize marijuana needs more people posting thing like this if any progress will ever be made. Although I have not done any through research besides a few Google searches I would like to touch on a point about comparing marijuana to tobacco. I will make it as short and sweet as possible. While smoking anything is obviously harmful to your lungs both substances can be ingested in other ways. Marijuana like you have said before in food and lip balm, to mention a few. Tobacco also does not need to be smoked (i.e chewing tobacco). Yet, and I mentioned earlier I have not done extensive research, ingesting marijuana has no cancer causing or other ill side effects. Except maybe if you ingest an absurd amount, but that can be said for ice cream, cake, pizza, or anything ingested. The same cannot be said for tobacco. Chewing tobacco or “dip” has been know to cause lip, tongue, mouth, and throat cancers. It can also rot and stain teeth, and never mind if you swallow any of the “juices” (i.e. your own saliva) you will most likely vomit. Now my question to all who oppose marijuana use (I actually have a lot more than 1) would be why aren’t you out there fighting against the use of tobacco? Are you against the use of marijuana just based on it’s legal status? Do you spend your weekends standing at stop signs counting out 1,2,3 and making sure everyone stops completely for three seconds? Just because the government can claim something legal or not does not mean it is good for you, and just because something is considered illegal does not mean you close the book on the subject. I could keep this up for much longer but I said short and sweet. I apologize not so short.
Any feed back is always appreciated, I do not mind if you re use or post this for anything or post my name.
Frank
advocate for studying the facts and thinking for one’s self.