Shame. Shame. Shame. It’s a damn shame we still live in a world where people can say what they want without being help accountable for what they say. We teach children about lying and being untrustworthly. You may have heard the story yourself. The boy who cried wolf! When will we stop listening?
-Dabbin’ Dad
Here’s what the Surgeon General gets wrong about marijuana Recently, the U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams sounded the alarm on cannabis. There is nothing novel or altogether objectionable about the nation’s top public health official speaking out in an effort to discourage cannabis use, especially among young people and other potential higher-risk populations. However, the Surgeon General’s campaign launch emphasized a variety of questionable and inaccurate claims that not only undermine his credibility but also his cause.
For example, in an Aug. 30 tweet, the Surgeon General contended that youth access to cannabis has increased as a result of adult-use legalization laws. But this claim is not accurate. Adolescents self-reported ease of marijuana access has declined in recent years, according to peer-reviewed data.
Teen marijuana use is also falling, including in legal cannabis states. In fact, data published in July in the journal “JAMA Pediatrics” reports, “Consistent with the results of previous researchers, there was no evidence that the legalization of medical marijuana encourages marijuana use among youth. Moreover, … marijuana use among youth may actually decline after legalization for recreational purposes.”