#MARIJUANA: Linking Social Networking and Marijuana
We are smart and the lies about Marijuana have become insulting. 
This is the marijuana information age. From conventions to dispensaries, the medical marijuana industry has grown exponentially. The community that has most often been mislabeled ‘stoners’ is mobilizing, and they’re using social networking and social media strategically to push past the labels.
Alex Brandon and Jonathan Wheeler, both 24, are registered patients and advocates. They want to talk about the advantages of marijuana to anyone will listen. Seven months ago, the young entrepreneurs launched a marijuana-themed social network, www.420friendsonline.com. Their network grew rapidly.
The friends’ mission is to “make a difference on how marijuana is viewed in today’s society.”
“People are more educated than ever before about [cannabis’s] benefits," says Jonathan. “We believe the last step to ending the prohibition is the unity of the people…we are ready to show our faces. We are a vast majority of the people: Doctors, lawyers, students, teachers, and etc. We are smart and the lies about Marijuana have become insulting.”
Jonathan and Alex aren’t the first ones to consider online tribes in order to get a message across. There are lots of other marijuana-based networking sites. There are some that help 420-friendly singles find love and others which provide interactive dispensary maps.
Hash tags on Twitter have aided in drawing bigger gatherings at marijuana public events than ever before. A normally localized, annual smoke-out in CU Boulder saw 10,000 people arrive just based on students’ use of social networking.
Medical Marijuana on Twitter (or #MMOT) is a shared, continually changing, and transnational assortment of marijuana-related narratives. The #marijuana, #mmj, #mmot and other hash tags contribute to the conversations which range from voicing support for end of prohibition to recipe sharing.
This is just the beginning. As social networking and media continue to evolve—into apps, video sharing, and whatever new technologes developers have on the horizon, the face of marijuana social networking evolves as well.
“420friendsonline is constantly upgrading and adding new features,” says Jonathan. “We offer a full list of games that are integrated with the awesome HeyZap, a game company that designs [games] for social networks. If you have a Flickr account, you can download your Flickr photos and albums to your profile.Nearly all popular social networking tools can be found on our site.”
The growing synergy between social networking and the medical marijuana industry has lent a far-reaching voice to the community. It’s also helped create business for people who in the past may have been dismissed as stoners.
“We believe our first responsibility is to provide the largest marijuana social network for like-minded individuals and also help other companies grow their businesses through our social network,” says Jonathan.
As with any movement gaining steam, there are hurdles and disparate ideas that still need to be addressed. Yet, it’s hard not to wonder how the unmatchable pace by which social networks spread information will lend itself to the future of the medical marijuana movement.
