This May Be The Worst Anti-Marijuana Ad of All Time

The news: This has gone too far. In its latest attempt to prevent the legalization of medical marijuana, a Florida group has launched a new campaign that suggests pot — not alcohol or roofies — will be used for date rape.

Image Credit: No On Amendment 2

Sorry, 'No On 2,' marijuana is simply not a date rape drug.

Here's how actual date rape drugs work: Predators slip drugs like ketamines (Special K) or rohypnol (roofies), which typically have no color, smell or taste, into drinks or food when their target isn't paying attention. The drugs not only make you physically weak but slow down your brain, making you feel confused and sometimes knocking you unconscious, thereby unable to refuse sex.

Marijuana doesn't work that way. Worse still, misleading ads like these distract people from the fact that a (perfectly legal) drug is the single most commonly used substance to help commit sexual assault — alcohol. While there is some evidence to suggest that people experience impaired judgment while high, weed's effect on reasoning and reaction time is far less pronounced than alcohol's. Never mind the women survivors who have actually experienced sexual assault after being drugged with real date rape substances.

The 'No On 2' group, which opposes Florida's Right to Medical Marijuana Initiative 2, also happens to be the same organization that previously posted a video called The Devil is in the Details which claimed that Amendment 2 would grant easy access to pot for anyone, regardless of their medical state. Yet the amendment specifically states that it "does not authorize 'the use of medical marijuana by anyone other than a qualifying patient.'"

The thousands of men and women who use medical marijuana to treat severe problems, from anxiety and depression to chronic pain and inflammation are not agent-less victims. And they certainly are not being lured unwittingly into alleyways by predators with pot cookies. Nice try, No On 2, but your mind games are no use here.