Alanis Morissette might have been one of my favourite singers back when I was a kid, but after hearing her talking quite openly about her love of marijuana, I’m a bit shocked.
Now, I know it’s not some big scandal these days when a celebrity is spotted smoking a bit of the whacky backy, I mean, it’s a common occurrence outside my local rock club on a Friday night, but still shouldn’t famous people be setting some kind of example?!
Apparently Alanis reckons the drug helps in her songwriting process… but even if it does, can she really think it’s a good idea to start sounding off about it? Especially when kids look up to her?
What’s more, in her interview with High Times magazine – she’s not only talking about her love for Cannabis, but also poses for lots of lovely pictures in a marijuana garden in California. Brilliant.
She tells the publication, “I’m all about moderation – as best I can be. As an artist, there’s a sweet jump-starting quality to it (marijuana) for me. I’ve often felt telepathic and receptive to inexplicable messages my whole life. I can stave those off when I’m not high. When I’m high – well, they come in and there’s less of a veil, so to speak. So if ever I need some clarity… or a quantum leap in terms of writing something, it’s a quick way for me to get to it.
“I have a lot of friends who have wanted to specifically quit smoking marijuana because they felt that it was having a negative effect on their lives, and I absolutely supported them doing so. Then I have other friends who I’ve coerced into smoking because I thought it would be great for them.”
Morissette credits boyfriend Tom Ballanco, a medical marijuana advocate, with showing her the drug’s benefits, adding, “I’ve always resonated with people who are on the front lines. I’ve always felt that way about Tom and about the community around him – Woody Harrelson, Alicia Silverstone. I have a lot of friends around me who are very courageous and willing to ‘come out’ – and Tom is definitely beyond the front lines. Any fears that I had about cannabis were quickly assuaged. Now I feel like a professional!”
Hmm, maybe if Alanis saw some of the kids failing school because they were too busy getting high to do any studying, she wouldn’t be blaze about it all?
Ruth. X
Bauer
What if she were talking about a few drinks, would it matter then? And if not, why the difference? Alcohol has interfered with the schooling and lives of many, many more kids than marijuana ever will. I say cudos to Alanis for simply telling her truth. More people should, without fearing someone will want to thrust their morality on them for doing so.
What teaches people to drink responsibly is the example of other people drinking responsibly …
in addition to the hangovers and culture customs and mores which are not kept in the closet.
Morissette appears to be an adult using cannabis responsibly and non-problematically. She
serves as a good example to young people who use cannabis irresponsibly and problematically.
Incidentally, cannabis consumers as a whole tend to have higher educations and earn higher
incomes than both drinkers and abstainers.
You’ve been reading too many of the gutter press stories about ‘skunk.’ Alanis is Canadian, where cannabis is widely used with little to no ill effects. Besides, kids in school only smoke it because it’s illegal – if it were regulated, they would find some other thrill seeking.
This article is stupid. Morissette sees the drug for what it really is. People are just caught with their pants down because shes not demonizing it.
re: “shouldn’t famous people be setting some kind of example?!”
She most emphatically is setting an example of frankness and honesty, in the face of massive institutional hypocrisy and dishonesty on the subject of cannabis use.
It is time we stopped treating our children and parents who take cannabis like freaks and criminals.
And the tabloid-driven bunk about “skunk” cannabis is rubbish, by the way.
Cannabis doesn’t make one a psychotic killer – lies and lust for power, well, that’s another matter.
Bravo for Alanis.
Since there is nothing wrong with smoking marijuana, I don’t think there is anything wrong with her being proud of it. Why try to demonize something for no reason?
Ruth: You have been lied to your whole life about cannabis, right now, you need learn as Alanis did, by studying (not trying cannabis, although, that would solve the debate without one word needed) the truth in ALL THE AVAILABLE RESEARCH ON LINE, so that your brainwashed (we all have been) area about this subject begins to think critically. First, read Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Wears No Clothes†Just Google it, you can read it from his website. There is a $100,000 USD challenge to be paid to anyone who can refute ONE single fact in the book – it remains un claimed; but, the ignorance, lies, distortions, and disinformation continues IN SPITE OF THE FACTS.
You see cannabis is dangerous, very dangerous, to oil, textile, pharmaceutical, lumber, paper, chemical, tobacco, and alcohol corporations – that is why it was illegally outlawed in the US, who also tricked the rest of the world into signing onto a UN treaty adding cannabis as a drug like heroin to the international law system as well. But you’ll learn that in Jack Herer’s book. You’ll be outraged at the lies and deceit of our governments, controlled by corporate contributions.
Now you quote: “Hmm, maybe if Alanis saw some of the kids failing school because they were too busy getting high to do any studying, she wouldn’t be blaze about it all?”
First, kids don’t fail school because they are too busy getting high. ALL research has shown children that have emotional disorders such as ADD, Depression, BPD, and other debilitating disorders, not to mention parents clueless about what’s really happening – their kids are self-medicating a disorder that has been ignored by the family in a majority of the cases. Cannabis is already helping those kids with ADD, Tourette Snydrome, and depression, eating disorders, etc. You wouldn’t think twice about pouring a teaspoon of codeine laced cough syrup in you infant’s mouth, but will withhold cannabis from a kids puking from chemo? I think you are beginning to see the complete contradictions that begin to unravel all the lies we’ve been feed since birth.
Oh, BTW, cocaine and morphine (and heroine in the UK), and the difference between a therapeutic dose and death is very small. I know, I’m a retired paramedic, 22-years. Cannabis is nontoxic, has NEVER killed one human being in 10,000 years of history.
I don’t have to remind you that alcohol, tobacco, valium, phen phen, aspirin, Tylenol, and water all have lethal doses, and do kill many thousands each year. You see, the more the genie is out of the bottle, the more pissed you’ll become when you see how, and who, have been keeping you sick with holding perfect medicine and forcing you to buy “safe and effective” prescription drugs that kill thousands every year,
Oh, before I go, one acre of hemp, will produce as much paper as 4.1 acres of trees, and they take how long to grow? Please tell everyone you know after you learn the truth, it would be a sin not to.
Marijuana is safer than alcohol.
It’s time for a change.
Over the years, one question that I have asked parents was; “Would you rather have your children drink alcohol or smoke marijuana?†Depending on their answer I knew what their position was towards legalization.
Each year more than 35,000 Americans die from the direct result of alcohol consumption. Every fall the number of US students dying from the misuse of alcohol increases. In 2001, there were an estimated 1,700 alcohol-related unintentional-injury deaths among college students and others aged 18 to 24. It’s also estimated that each year approximately 600,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured while under the influence of alcohol.
Even more disturbing is the fact that other people are adversely affected by those who drink. Each year approximately 700,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by students that have been drinking, and close to 100,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related assaults or date rape.
What’s going on? Why is this happening? Some of the answers can be found in a new book that was published this summer. ‘Marijuana is SAFER: So why are we driving people to drink?’ was written by Steve Fox (Director of State Campaigns, Marijuana Policy Project), Paul Armentano (Deputy Director, NORML), and Mason Tvert (Executive Director, SAFER).
The authors have written a timely handbook or primer on the history of pot politics to the present push towards legalization.
The authors take us from the start of prohibition over 70 years ago to the present day. The writing is interesting and factual without getting bogged down in too much detail. They explain how ‘reefer madness’ shaped the public’s perception of pot and how Nixon declared the ‘war on drugs’ in the 1970’s.
As a primer there is a section on how marijuana affects the body. Surprisingly, recent studies have shown that regular marijuana smokers have a lower incidence of cancer than non-smokers.
The section on alcohol is also revealing. The major problem with alcohol is that there isn’t that big of a difference between a safe amount and a lethal amount. For example, if a 45 kg woman were to consume alcohol at the rate of one drink per hour she would suffer no ill effects. If she were to consume 9 shots in one hour it would be lethal.
The authors dispel the myth that marijuana is more harmful than alcohol or the same as alcohol, and they make a case for allowing a choice.
The title of the book ‘Marijuana is SAFER’ refers to the SAFER campaigns started in Colorado in 2005. SAFER means ‘Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation’.
The premise of the SAFER campaign was that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and that adults should have a choice. It started at two universities to reduce the stigma and penalties of using marijuana when compared with using alcohol.
In a referendum in November of 2005, the citizens of Denver voted to eliminate all penalties for the adult possession of marijuana.
On August 25, 2009 Argentina’s Supreme Court struck down the law criminalizing marijuana, allowing adults to possess marijuana for personal use.
Recently, the British Medical Association called for a ban on alcohol related advertising at sporting events, from newspapers, billboards, radio and television. This is in response to a report last year that identified Britain as the hardest-drinking country in Europe. The alcohol-related death rate has nearly doubled between 1991 and 2005 (from 6.9 to 12.9 per 100,000 people).
The track record for alcohol is not good. Not only do 35,000 people die in the US per year from the direct consumption of alcohol, alcohol-related health care costs are 45 times that compared to marijuana-related health care costs. That’s right, 45 times! And as Americans and Canadians are grappling with increased health care costs the argument to legalize marijuana has never been stronger.
By allowing a choice between alcohol and marijuana, more people would choose the safer of the two.
And finally, if marijuana was legal and I were to ask you again, “Would you rather have your children drink alcohol or smoke marijuana?†you might answer differently.
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