Whacked Brochure - Canadian Mental Health Association, Toronto ...

[whacks] & facts
WHACK
Marijuana brings all the girls to my yard!
FACT
The girls might come to your yard but they’ll
run the other way once they figure out that
marijuana can make you sexually impotent.
Translation: Smoke too many spliffs and you
won’t be able to get stiff. ‘Nuff said.
WHACK
Without a doobie to relax, I’d be like
Napoleon Dynamite … but less cool.
FACT
Lots of people – not just high schoolers
– use pot to relax and feel comfortable
around others. But there are other ways to
ease social situations! Google the net: ‘Tips
for overcoming social anxiety’ and find
something that works for you.
WHACK
I can’t stop because all my friends smoke.
FACT
If you do want to cut back or stop smoking,
try to tell at least one of your friends so
that they can support your choice. Feel
free to blame us: tell your buddies you read
something in a pamphlet that made you
change your mind! Try using the following
excuses: “Just say that you have already had
far too much tonight.” or “No way man, it
makes my teeth yellow!” Say: “No thanks,
I’m already weird enough,” or “No thanks, I
like my brain the way it is.”
WHACK
Smoking pot is the only way to open my
third eye and expand my mind.
FACT
Unless you are a for real, Salassie-propping,
dreadlocked Rastafarian, marijuana will not
grant you spiritual transcendence. With
each toke you are actually burning holes in
your brain and increasing your chances of
developing a mental illness. That’s right –
75% of young folks who smoke pot regularly
are at risk of experiencing a psychotic episode.
So before you smoke up, ask yourself if it’s
worth the risk of potentially hearing voices
and seeing demons. And that’s no joke.
WHACK
At least I’m not a crackhead! You can’t get
addicted to pot.
FACT
Addiction can be a mental or physical
dependence: just because you don’t get the
shakes like a heroin junkie doesn’t mean
you’re not addicted to pot. If you feel like
you need it to get by or enjoy life, you are
addicted. Also, the more you smoke – in
frequency and amount – the more pot you’ll
need to ingest in order to get the same high.
WHACK
At least I’m not getting drunk every
weekend! Green is better than booze.
FACT
And jumping off a cliff is better than
drowning? Both drinking and smoking in
excess can mess you up and the risks are
much worse for younger folks. Though we
may feel invincible, our brains will continue
to develop even into our late 20s. You don’t
want to take a one-way trip to loony land
and get stuck there for the rest of your life.
WHACK
Mary J is a natural, harm-free high.
FACT
We’ve heard it all: “But it’s a plant!” “It’s all
natural!” “My grandma uses it for arthritis!”
If you offered a toke to your Auntie (who’d
never tell you that she was a groupie in the
‘60s) she’d be flying out to Mars. The pot
on the market right now is a zillion times
stronger than it was in the ‘60s or even the
’90s. Not only do growers right now use
hybridized seeds but many dealers also cut
their stuff to add weight (meaning mixing in
cocaine with the pot, for example). So that
pile of “au naturel” bud is in fact a heap of
chemically saturated power pot.