420 Alert! A History of Anti-Marijuana PSAs

In honor of the national pot holiday, we take a look back at some singularly strange efforts to dissuade young weedheads.

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Complex Original

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It's April 20, and you know what that means: the 352nd anniversary of Jews being granted freedom of religion in New Amsterdam! Wait, no, that's not the only thing. We know there's something else we're supposed to be remembering. Damn it, we could concentrate if those cookies didn't smell so freaking delicious. Yooooo, why isn't there a chocolate-chip cookie with Doritos baked right into them? Heh. "Baked." Man, you know what we could really go for? Some Robot Chicken. That show is straight piff. Wait...that's it! Chicken! No, wait, that's not it either. Hold on, we gotta check the calendar again. Calendar. Calendar. What kind of word is that, anyway?

THAT'S IT! It's 4/20, son! But instead of getting pleasantly lifted, take a few moments to think about the choice you're making. There have been plenty of anti-marijuana public service announcements over the years, all of which are aimed at ILLUMINATING YOUNGSTERS AS TO THE DANGERS OF THE EVIL HERB. Do they succeed? It's hard to tell—but that's mostly because we are blazed right now. So do the math yourself and check the cavalcade of weed-hating PSAs we rolled up for you...


"HOW A 13-YEAR-OLD SEES THE WORLD"

What It's Supposed To Say: Adults smoking weed? That's CRAZY! What kind of person could enjoy recreational use of a non-addictive naturally occurring plant and not turn into a shiftless degenerate?
What It Actually Says: Buying weed at the deli? Whoever made this ad remembers how NYC was before Giuliani.

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