This image is from the DEA's website. It is apart of a magazine they created that is targeted to teenagers in order to encourage them not to smoke marijuana. I don't think teenagers should smoke weed, I just think the way the government is going about informing teenagers is a joke and not believable.

First, they use images that are unrealistic and posed. For example, on the cover page of the magazine (which is called Stumble Weed) they show two teenage boys making a drug deal. These boys look sleazy and like your typical troublemaker. They are trying to show young teenagers that if you deal with marijuana you are sleazy and bad. I think it is bad for young teenagers to be dealing with marijuana, but I think it is around the "good" kids as well. If the creators of Stumble Weed made this more realistic they would get a better reaction from viewers.

I also think that showing kids the consequences of smoking weed as being unmotivated and lazy they are not convincing them not to smoke it. Marijuana is difficult to defend as being bad because it has little negative effects. Teenagers don't care about the effects it has on their bodies because they want to experiment. What they do care about is the different ways they can be punished by law enforcement if they do get caught. Because they are going to try things no matter what, teenagers are extremely curious.

My point here is to show what little deterant characteristics marijuana has. It has a little amount of negative effects and it isn't deadly. In high school, the drugs I was afraid of were the deadly ones like ecstasy and heroine, which kids also did anyway. I think the obvious characteristic of marijuana is that it is not that bad. The only negative aspect is the fact that it is illegal. Young teenagers are dealing with drug dealers when they want to smoke weed. It would be much safer if they had to deal with government controlled retailers if they wanted to smoke, which would make it more difficult to retrieve just like alcohol.