Medical Marijuana Has Nothing to do with Teenage Pot Smoking

The drug czar's shameful attempt to blame increased teenage pot use on the medical marijuana debate has already been ripped to confetti by almost every good drug policy writer on the web, but in case you haven't seen it, here he goes.

"We have been telling young people, particularly for the past couple years, that marijuana is medicine," the former Seattle police chief argued. "So it shouldn't be a great surprise to us that young people are now misperceiving the dangers or the risks around marijuana." [ABC News]

The very idea that debating the legalization of medical marijuana makes teens more inclined to indulge is just demonstrably false, but the absurdity of the accusation actually goes beyond that. Rather obviously, public pressure to protect patients was a reaction to deeply disturbing actions by federal agencies and pathetic intransigence by elected representatives with the power to uphold justice and compassion.

There would have been no debate about legalizing medical marijuana if you sick idiots had summoned the guts to do the right thing in the first place. We did indeed spend years working to educate the public about marijuana's medical value, and if we hadn't, patients might still be treated like common criminals everywhere in America. If even one person misunderstood our message about marijuana, the blame rests with those who obscured and obstructed the discussion for so long. We didn't want to spend 15 years making noise about this, but a staggering number of public officials abdicated their duty and forced us to take action again and again.

Teenagers looking for a buzz don't give a damn if it's medicine, but they do take note when the government gets caught lying about it at every turn. If these drug war scumbags want the attention of America's youth, maybe they should try saying something that isn't obvious bullshit for once.