Presumably, if you're part of a campaign pushing for the creation of a new marijuana bureaucracy in Oregon—the system of regulated medical pot dispensaries envisioned by Measure 74—you really, really want the public to take you seriously.

You would line up sober, avuncular endorsers, like ex-Portland Mayor Tom Potter. And you would talk about high-minded aims like easing the plight of patients in pain and bringing much-needed revenue to Salem's emptying coffers. You would engage in an articulate debate with a newspaper, ahem, that endorsed against your effort.

And the last thing you would want to do is play into any bogeyman stereotypes about slackers and lazy-asses and stoners that opponents are sure to try to nurture amid a skeptical public. Or so one would think.

Instead, there's this radio ad... about a lazy, stoned slacker who needs an "intervention" to go vote, but agrees to do so only after he's promised he'll be home by 4:20. Dude.



Is it supposed to be an attempt at humor? A bid to co-opt whatever crap reactionary opponents' might spew? Probably. The problem is, it isn't funny. And, as such, it makes the case for opponents almost better than they could themselves.