Opponents of a Massachusetts measure to legalize medical marijuana can’t catch a break.
A state voter guide mailed out to millions incorrectly states that voters can learn about the anti-marijuana organization, Vote No On Question 3, at votenoonquestion3.org. However, the address instead directs to a spoof that ridicules the group, hyperbolically claiming that marijuana use leads to “Twinkie addiction” and the end of the world.
“My goal with the website was basically to poke fun at the arguments that are typically brought up,” Scott Gacek, the spoof site’s webmaster, told BostInno.
After the fact, Vote No On Question 3 registered a serious site, mavotenoonquestion3.com. But since it neglected to register the .org version of the address, a second prankster has reserved the domain to create yet another website ridiculing the organization.
“So they moved their official address to a different domain, but this time they only registered the .com version, leaving .org available,” the anonymous joker wrote. “The War On Drugs has always been a war against logic and reason, so this only confirms it.”
Now, Vote No On Question 3 is using the pranksters to their advantage. The spoof sites have given the group a way to prove that its opponents don’t take anything seriously. In a blog post on its actual site, the group asks, “The joke’s on us, or is it?”:
“The person behind the satirical website is Scott Gacek. One might expect him to have an interest in ‘medical’ marijuana because of the claimed benefit to a chronically ill person. However, online research about Mr. Gacek reveals a different interest. He is a photographer who has a hobby of posting pictures of young girls smoking pot on the web: 420.Girls4Ganja.com … Before you vote in November, we ask that you learn what, exactly, you are voting for — and that you also pay close attention to who is behind the movement to legalize ‘medical’ marijuana.”
Vote No On Question 3 believes that its opponents don’t really care about legalizing medical marijuana in Massachusetts, only making it easier for citizens to use the drug recreationally.
While the group is quick to point out parodists’ agenda, commenters on Boing Boing observed that they know very little about who’s behind the anti-legalization group.
“What’s funny is that they try to paint the spoof website as having a secret agenda while at the same time they don’t come clean about their own website,” AnthonyL wrote. “Where the domain holder is anonymous and there is not a single name, organization, address or phone number associated with the site. I wonder if it’s a high dollar PR group or amateur working out of their parent’s basement.”
Photo by Jay-P/Flickr