Ganja, Mary Jane, reefer, weed, grass, kush and pot. All are synonyms for the drug marijuana. The drug that the “Under your own influence” campaign is trying to prevent students from using. The posters this campaign puts up are trying to say that smoking pot is bad and unpopular. “89 percent of students did not use pot the last time they hung out with friends,” the flyer claims. Better yet, the campaign refers to the boardgame Clue, as if students are still playing it.

The poster also states that pot is not a safe herbal plant, citing the National Institute on Drug Abuse. A simple counter argument is: why are more and more states legalizing medical marijuana? Washington and Oregon have even legalized recreational marijuana.

Besides the fact that these posters have little credibility among their target demographic, us, the student body, pot should not be the drug this poster is trying to stop. Weed is sometimes called a “gateway drug,” which means using it leads to the use of more intense drugs. But this is not automatic, nor a given guarantee the user will start snorting cocaine. There are more things going on when heavy drug use occurs.

Before we go any further, The New Trier News is not suggesting students use substances. That would go against the “Code of Conduct” we all sign at the beginning of the year. However, pot is not the worst drug students can use and people do not die from just smoking weed. Pot alone does not lead to overdoses or hospitalization. No smoke is good to inhale, but why is this “Influence” campaign not doing anything to stop tobacco use, which is arguably worse for your health? It’s easy to find students using chewing tobacco during school so why not combat that? It even seems as if every other weekend there is a student who is hospitalized from drinking too much. You just don’t hear about that happening with weed.

The New Trier News suggests a better advertising campaign against the use of drugs. Create something that talks about a drug that students actually use often. The school is trying to stop something that 89 percent student body does not do. Instead, New Trier should try to stop the use of more dangerous substances: alcohol and tobacco. Talk about the dangers of alcohol abuse  Talk about tobacco and cancer rates. More than 11 percent of the student body uses either of those substances. Don’t just use a statistic that nobody believes. And finally, don’t reference a boardgame that nobody plays anymore.