Someone check the calendar in the New York Times newsroom, because NORML is officially calling them out for recycling the exact same pearl-clutching cannabis freakout they first ran in 1978. In a fiery new op-ed, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano took the paper of record to task for its latest round of alarmist headlines, which essentially boil down to two well-worn tropes: the weed is too damn strong, and way too many people are enjoying it.
Armentano wasted no time dismantling the paper’s obsession with “super-potent” pot, reminding readers that while potent concentrates exist—much like hashish has existed since forever—cannabis consumers generally understand basic math. When products pack more punch, people use less of them, a wildly revolutionary concept known in the scientific community as titration and everywhere else as common sense. More to the point, legal dispensary receipts show most shoppers still just buy good old-fashioned flower, not rocket fuel. And in the ultimate buzzkill for alarmist narratives, regardless of THC percentages, cannabis still boasts a lethal overdose count of precisely zero—a fact the Times conveniently sidelines while simultaneously running moody, hand-wringing think pieces asking what cultural magic society might lose if people stop drinking literal liver-wrecking poison like booze.
The op-ed also shredded the paper’s grim warnings about soaring rates of “cannabis use disorder,” pointing out that the diagnostic bar is set so ridiculously low that legitimate medical patients managing chronic pain get slapped with the label simply for having a tolerance, while opioid patients get a pass. Meanwhile, actual government substance abuse data shows that Americans checking into rehab for cannabis have been steadily dropping for five years straight, teen use has plunged to historic lows thanks to regulated storefronts checking IDs, and alcohol continues to send four times as many people to treatment. For an outlet that claims to deliver all the news that’s fit to print, NORML’s verdict is clear: when it comes to cannabis, the Times is blowing a whole lot of stale, sensationalized smoke.
Dabbin-Dad Newsroom
