Courtesy of Perez Hilton

Her video’s all over the news. The horror! The scandal! Our thoughts? She looks as elegant and gorgeous as ever – even when stoned on a basement couch. Here’s the thing, this is not new. Michael Phelps, Woody Harrelson, Seth Rogan, Drew Barrymore, Nicole Ritchie… celebrities everywhere are being caught for behaving…like normal people. The Cowgirls did some research to try and figure out why so many are against smoking pot  – but the trouble is, there’s not much to hate besides a potential death by carb-icide.

To get the facts straight, we went to a credible source – Vancouver: our nation’s stoner capital. After reading several studies performed there, it appears the long-term affects include bronchitis, lung disease, perception and motor performance (i.e. driving). The belief that pot kills braincells was based on a study by Dr. Robert Heath in 1980 (tested on animals) and has been discredited since as he noticed only a few damaged cells (not dead ones) that haven’t been found in recent studies. This seems like a small price compared to the heavy addictions (affecting 600,000 Canadians), liver failures, aggressive behaviours, and hangovers that alcohol brings to the table. And cancer? Harvard researchers have recently found that THC actually inhibits the growth of lung cancer cells (see for yourself here). “It’s the green medicine!” our West coast friend proclaims.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse states that nearly half of all death-related car accidents have involved alcohol, whereas marijuana is related to a mere 2% (give or take) of drug-related hospital visits. Is this because alcohol is more readily available? Should both be made illegal? Of course not! In the Netherlands, adults can legally buy and use cannabis. And yet, the usage rate is equivalent to the United States (with younger people, they’re actually lower). So what? Change the law? Fight for freedom?

Courtesy of Wikia.com

Unfortunately, ponies can’t change the rules of the law. What we can change though, is how people perceive those who smoke pot. Monroe was not a “stoner” by any means. We never saw her chuckling at everything around her and inhaling Hershey bars out of her purse everyday. She was a woman who liked to escape the poster image every now and then by taking a toke. We need to let her be.

Drug usage (alcohol, weed,) is up to your own discretion. Don’t do something because Monroe or Phelps did it – do it because you want to and can acknowledge the consequences it has on your body. If you love marijuana, awesome. If you love a glass of wine instead, fantastic. If you sometimes like a joint in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, perfect. We love you all the same.

XoXo
– The Cowgirls.