March 23, 2016

Marijuana Media Has A Duty To Give A Voice To The Voiceless

March 23, 2016
marijuana media
marijuana media
(image via istock photos)

Mainstream media has long played a very big role in keeping marijuana prohibition in place. Newspapers, magazines, television networks, movie studios, etc. have all had members of their respective media platforms ‘get in on the reefer madness.’ More mainstream media outlets are getting on the right side of history every year, but there are still a lot out there that are pumping out long since debunked garbage, and in a way that can range from subtle to outright blatant.

I always see people on social media complaining about the mainstream media bias, and rightfully so. Fortunately we live in a day and age where information is readily available and people can sound off on social media in order to mitigate the lameness of what they see on mainstream media, at least as much as possible. But that doesn’t begin to combat the problem of mainstream media completely ignoring stories, which also helps keep cannabis prohibition in place.

That’s why marijuana media is so important in my opinion. It wasn’t that long ago that there were hardly any marijuana media outlets out there, whether it be print or digital. Now there are marijuana media outlets popping up constantly it seems like, which is a potentially great thing for the reform movement. I use the word ‘potentially’ because it depends on how marijuana media goes about things. With great power comes great responsibility, and it’s the duty of all members of the marijuana media to stand up for those that can’t do it themselves. Marijuana media needs to give a voice to the voiceless.

In the over six years that I’ve been co-running this blog, I’ve come across so many people and causes that need their story to be told. Mainstream media sure as hell aren’t going to do it, but it needs to be done. Stories are powerful, but only if people have the opportunity to hear them. We live in a day and age when things have the ability to go viral, all because someone took the time to make things known. That’s powerful stuff, and I’ve seen it happen way more times than I could ever count, and marijuana media was at the heart of it.

There are patients out there that if people heard about their suffering, and how medical cannabis saved their lives, minds would be changed. There are causes out there that a lot of people would love to help, but they have to hear about them first. There are prisoners sitting in jail cells because of prohibition right now that shouldn’t be, but they especially have a hard time having their voice heard. Prohibition is still very much in place in a vast majority of America and beyond, and has been for a very long time. There are a lot of wrongs out there that need to be righted, but the victims of those wrongs often don’t have a voice that is loud enough that they can get above the white noise of the world.

Marijuana media has a duty to help people and causes out there that fit that description. So whether you are a journalist, blogger (different than a journalist in my opinion!), producer, run a podcast, etc. remember to give a voice to the voiceless. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t focus energy towards things that are more lighthearted, because there’s absolutely a need for that too. Prohibition is a very depressing thing if you really sit and think about it, and celebrating cannabis culture and rejoicing and reflecting on the progress that has been made is vital for moral, and in my opinion, is well deserved. But that has to be balanced with the responsibility to continue the fight, especially when it comes to the most vulnerable and most taken advantage of members of the cannabis community. As a member of the marijuana media myself, I challenge all other members to go the extra mile when it comes to helping give a voice the the voiceless!

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