Buddie The Marijuana Mascot Is Causing Controversy

Causing controversy at college campuses in Ohio this week is Buddie the marijuana mascot, who is puffing all about the place advocating for weed legalization. Aside from the fact that Buddie is the best ever pun nick name for a mascot EVER, his presence at college campuses has been met with mixed reviews. Buddie is a green, caped crusader urging students across campuses to vote "yes" to marijuana legalization, which obviously is a hot button topic across the country, mostly for states that haven't yet legalized the drug. (The other states are probably too stoned by now to care anymore. Jokes. But for real though.)

Obviously, not everyone is as chill with Buddie as Buddie is chill with life. Most of the criticism levelled at Buddie is based on arguments that he's marketing weed to children. Mashable reported that dissenter Nick Lashutka, president of the Ohio Children's Hospitals Association, said, "We didn't believe it when we saw the photos. We were pretty shocked. This is nothing less than a ploy to market to children." Which honestly seems like a stretch, considering college students are voting-age adults who have been deemed by society of an appropriate age to make their political decisions based on informed policy considerations. And if you are of age to vote, then you have to consider things like marijuana policy because this is real life and not some puritanical Disney day dream.

Oppositional groups have also compared Buddie to Joe Camel, the marketing mascot for cigarettes in the 90s, but ResponsibleOhio, the group aiming to convince Ohio to vote "yes" on marijuana legalization in the state, stands by Buddie. As it stands now, weed is completely illegal in Ohio, so legalization would be a huge move for the state, and the Republican government isn't going light on the issue, putting to vote the economic arrangements needed to facilitate Ohio's proposed growing sites (should marijuana be legalized). It looks like an uphill battle for the green stuff in Ohio state for sure, and one that might not be one this time around.

It might seem a bit of a no brainer to some of us, but the whole country isn't quite up to speed with the Seattles and Denvers of the world. Here's what some of Buddie's dissenters had to say about the controversial mascot:

But it's not just anti-marijuana legalization advocates that have it in for Buddie. Campaigners for marijuana legalization are fed up with the mascot too, believing that it detracts seriousness from the issue at hand:

But then obviously, there are those of the "lol awesome" variety too. You can probably guess their hobbies:

Whether Buddie is good for the business of legalizing marijuana or not, one thing is for certain: he's certainly gotten people talking about the issue, and isn't that somewhat important?

Images: Comedy Central