Since 1992, MTV has produced and aired programs like "The Real World," which feature young people consuming large quantities of alcohol and then engaging in reckless, violent, destructive, and oftentimes illegal behavior. Yet it has never once shown a cast member consuming marijuana, which the network almost surely prohibits and undoubtedly discourages.
Please visit http://tinyurl.com/y8elkmn and take just a few seconds to sign SAFER's on-line petition calling on MTV to stop driving its cast members to drink and "start getting real."
In the real world, millions of people use marijuana and every objective study on it has concluded it is far safer than alcohol for them and society. Yet in "The Real World" and other reality shows like "Jersey Shore," MTV makes sure alcohol is always available in abundance -- and that cast members never make the safer choice to use marijuana instead.
Recently, things have gotten more out of control than ever. On this week's episode of "The Real World," an extremely drunken cast member shoved another off the tall ledge of the staircase outside their house, resulting in him being taken away on a backboard by paramedics. And just a couple a months ago MTV's new reality show, "Jersey Shore," received worldwide attention when a drunken young man at a bar punched one of the female cast members hard in the face after she accused him of stealing some drinks purchased by a fellow
castmate.*
You can help us draw much-needed attention to MTV's dangerous "alcohol only" reality programming by visiting http://tinyurl.com/ y8elkmn today and taking just a few seconds to sign:
--- A petition in support of SAFER MTV programming ---
Future cast members of "The Real World," "Jersey Shore," and other MTV reality shows should be allowed to use marijuana as a safer recreational alternative to alcohol.
In the real world, millions of adults enjoy using marijuana responsibly, and every objective study on it has concluded it is far safer than alcohol both for them and society. Yet MTV embraces -- and often encourages -- the use of alcohol by its cast members, and it prohibits them from making the rational choice to use a less harmful substance instead.
"The Real World," "Jersey Shore," and MTV's other reality shows should stop driving cast members to drink and "start getting real."
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.