Weed/cannabis/marijuana effects your body with the chemical THC. Harmless and fun. But everywhere I go people always refer to it as 'Dope'.
"Let's go smoke some dope"
"Oh those damn college kids, all they do is smoke dope all day"
"Don't be a dope by smoking dope"
"Sick dope man"
etc.
This is inaccurate, misleading and potentially dangerous.
Inaccurate/misleading:
Dope is short for dopamine. The chemical in the brain that makes you feel good.
It's also one of the main chemicals in meth, so whenever someone says 'dope' they should be referring to meth, not weed.
Edit: It has been pointed out that weed DOES produce dopamine on the reward pathways. Regardless it seems weird to refer to a drug as dope when that's not the main drug. Besides that 'dope' just sounds dangerous.
Dangerous:
Say a high-school kid smokes weed with his friends (common) and everyone around him - his school, parents, friends, teachers - refer to weed as 'dope'. Now pretend little Bobby gets offered to smoke some dope, but this time it's actually meth. As far as Bobby is concerned it may just be weed processed different which is why it looks different.
Now Bobby develops a meth habit and dies.
Dope != Weed
Dope == Meth
Stop giving weed a bad name by giving it the same name as dangerous drugs.
Discuss and Follow.