Pokemon Go, the app which allows users catch virtual versions of their favourite 90s characters, has become a unstoppable phenomenon since its initial release last week. Thousands of users across the world have become obsessed – some might say addicted – to the drug-like haze that consumes them as they walk around their local neighborhood hunting the little creatures.
As a result, many child-welfare advocates and parents concerned for the welfare of users – both young and old. However, with this news comes the opportunity to once again highlight the war on drugs.
In case you have been living under a rock, Pokemon Go is an app that uses your phone’s GPS and clock to encourage you to walk out into the world – real and virtual – to collect Pokemon. The app has become so popular it has topped the “most downloaded” charts for both the Android and Apple app stores faster than any other game in history.
In fact, Pokemon Go now has more active users on Android phones in the US than Twitter, according to app analytics firm SimilarWeb.
When you get pulled over but you gotta catch em all #pokemongo pic.twitter.com/ZVosCaaYep
— sethary (@seth_cordaro) 8 July 2016
While the games mixture of gaming and reality has proven to be both entertaining and interactive, there have been an ever growing list of users who have become so engrossed with their mobile phone screens that they have disregarded their own safety and the safety of those around them.
Despite the obvious dangers that this addictive app is becoming increasingly associated with, more and more users are downloading the app as it becomes available in their countries. While there has yet to be a death that has been attributed to Pokemon Go, it appears the incident could be just around the corner.
In comparison, cannabis has yet to – and is highly unlikely to – be the cause of a person’s death. Although cannabis and an mobile application are not directly related, the fact that a simple game that is partially aimed at children has the potential to lead to a fatality while a drug that is proven to help a number of medical conditions can, in most states, lead to your imprisonment, extortion, and tarnishment of your permanent record highlights the clear issues with the war on drugs.
“Death by Pokemon is coming,” Gerry Beyer, Governor Preston E. Smith Regents Prof. of Law at Texas Tech Univ. School of Law, dystopically warned. “Pokemon users will have all sorts of accidents as they use the program while walking, biking, driving, etc.”
Two men fall off a cliff playing “Pokemon Go” in San Diego https://t.co/SifQRDjgzH pic.twitter.com/ejCB2no4gt
— Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) 18 July 2016
Last week, firefighters in Encinitas, California, rescued two twenty-something Pokemon Go players after they feel “several stories” from a cliff. One of the men fell 75 to 100 feet, while the other was found unconscious 50 feet down the bluff. The two men were taken to area trauma centers and are said to have only suffered moderate injuries.
While the game is loading, the following warning is presented to players: “Remember to be alert at all times. Stay aware of your surroundings.”
Despite this evident warning, many players have been known to endanger themselves and those around them whilst they have been consumed by the game.
As one might expect, if mature adults are able to succumb to the spell-bound state commonly associated with the game, many young users are also at great risk of injury or death.
15-year-old Autumn Nolan was struck by a car in Pennsylvania after she was mindlessly attempting to catch a Pokemon along a busy highway. According to reports, had just finished playing when she attempted to cross the busy road. Autumn had been playing the game for a total 30 minutes before being struck by the car.
“She was hit by a car crossing the highway where a Pokemon took her,” said Autumn’s mother, Tracy Nolan. “The Pokemon game took her across a major, major highway at 5 o’clock in the evening.”
Incidents similar to this have become so common, numerous groups have issued warnings about the app. Police stations and child-welfare groups have become particularly concerned about the dangers associated with playing the revolutionary app.
In addition, theft and other crimes have also been attributed to the app and its GPS features. Players, especially those hunting for rare pokemon, have become prime targets for thieves looking for an easy target. The thief merely waits by a secluded area that has either a rare pokemon or lure module – an add-on that allows users to attract pokemon to a designated Pokestop – until an unsuspecting player approaches.
“A guy pulled up with a gun and held a gun up to me,” recounted David Wallace for local NBC affiliate, KCRA 3. “He held it right by his waist and said, ‘If you don’t want to get hurt, give me your phones.”
These cases represent a mere fraction of some of the shocking, and down-right disturbing, incidents that have occurred across the world since the game’s initial launch.
Drawing back to our cannabis connecting, the mania associated with this new app closely “parallels the lessening of inhibitions caused by alcohol, prescription pills, and hard drugs.” As mentioned above, it is clear to see once you have noted some of the many near-death experiences of many Pokemon Go players, cannabis is simply not the dangerous substance that government make it out to be.
As noted by the Free Thought Project, if one were to replace marijuana with Pokemon Go mania in the government’s 20th Century propaganda campaign, ‘Reefer madness’ the effect will be identical.
As a result, if a simple app like Pokemon Go can be considered more dangerous and life threatening than smoking cannabis, it should appear clear that the war on drugs is nothing more than a shambles that needs to be ended immediately.
Image: Flickr, Eduardo Woo
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