In an epically misguided Sunday sermon for the op-ed page of the Christian Post, Professor Michael Brown puts his dynamic range of ignorance about cannabis on display, summed up simply in the title of his piece, “What are they smoking in Colorado?”
More specifically, Brown targets Colorado Governor, John Hickenlooper, by asking…again…”What in the world is he smoking?” Completely ignoring the will of the voters in Colorado, who overwhelmingly supported Amendment 64, Brown goes right after the governor, attacking him for taking the estimated multimillion dollar revenues that legal weed is expected to deliver, and putting it back into the community.
He concedes right in his second paragraph that, “In reality, Governor John Hickenlooper is an outspoken critic of his state’s legalization of pot…”
But then, “reality” flies right out the window for the remainder of the article, as Brown runs down a laundry list of the same decades-old easily debunked propaganda that is unraveling at the seams as the polls continue to swing in favor of weed nationwide.
Michael Brown earned a Ph.D. from New York University, he has written 22 books, and currently, he spends his weekdays cranking out a nationally syndicated daily talk show called Line of Fire. His op-ed for the Christian Post certainly reads like a morning zoo DJ trying to light up the phone lines, but it’s high time that the truth and the facts fired back.
We won’t waste the space on re-printing his laughably logic-free ménage à trois of cigarette/McDonald’s/drunk driving analogies to weed legalization, since Brown himself admits they are nuts.
At the root of his rant, Brown is fired up that Governor Hickenlooper has announced that he plans to allocate marijuana-related revenues to fund “$45.5 million for youth use prevention, $40.4 million for substance abuse treatment and $12.4 million for public health.”
| Wikimedia Commons |
| Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper |
Brown is not the only person upset about this announcement, as many Colorado voters – particularly those who supported A64 – were under the impression that the revenues would be spent directly on public services, like schools and teachers, not “addiction counselors” and fearmongering D.A.R.E.-style propaganda campaigns.
Brown, however, launches into a diatribe of ridiculous questions, equal parts devious and vague. He begins many of his paragraphs with a condescending and sarcastic “What?”, which, it turns out, is a useful clue to adept readers that a slew of bullshit is coming.
Brown’s first concern, if you will, is that by removing the taboo (his word) of illegality from weed that more kids are going to use it. The parents are bound to light up, he argues, so the kids are sure to follow.
“The only way to completely avoid negative impacts on children,” argues Brown, “is to do the opposite of what Colorado has done, and even then, the negative impact on kids couldn’t be completely avoided.”
So, in other words, do nothing. Retreat, with haste, back to the familiar fog of the failed War on Drugs that has kept countless Ph.D.’s and counselors in business for decades….followed by another wacky analogy, this time about sprinklers, or something.
Brown’s next bellyache is regarding the governor’s announcement to spend $5.8-million in pot dollars on a public media campaign highlighting the alleged risks of weed smoking, plus an additional $1.9-million on a “Drive High, Get a DUI” statewide blood-limit testing program.
Brown, again, goes right after the messenger, Gov. Hickenlooper, with his trademark “What?” attack, insinuating that the Governor, who he already implied might be stoned, right before admitting the guy hates pot, singlehandedly made weed legal in Colorado. Wait, it gets crazier.
| Wikimedia Commons |
| Dr. Michael L. Brown, Ph.D. |
“What? You make the drug legal, even though it has been the gateway drug for harder drug use for decades, your state celebrates this newfound liberty in very public ways, and you use tax revenue from marijuana sales to fund a ‘statewide media campaign on marijuana use’?”
Again with the “gateway drug” garbage. Doc Brown, that term is stuck in the past, you might want to switch it up. The real gateway is when marijuana gets compared to everything from Big Macs to heroin overdoses, rather than being discussed in an honest, straightforward manner.
Brown cites some random numbers about how more drivers in Seattle are testing positive for pot since it was legalized in the state of Washington, but throws up a huge red flag for anyone interested in truth, reality, or actual facts, when he follows up his “stats” by saying, “And while there are different explanations for these numbers…”
Yeah? What are they? Tell your readers. The major “explanation” is that as everyone knows, weed can stay in a person’s system for up to 30 days after use. In many cases, a driver is not even impaired 30 minutes after use, but Brown is resting his case on convoluted statistics that often blame accidents on “stoned drivers” who might not have had a toke in weeks, and who might not have even been at fault in the accident. In fact, the link that Brown provides states that many studies have shown that the rising trend of motorists substituting cannabis for alcohol is, if anything, driving traffic fatality statistics down.
Tipping his hand a bit, Brown then slaps some icing on his crazy cake by quoting Prohibitionist-in-pothead’s-clothing, Kevin Sabet, co-founder of the despicable group SAM (Smart Approaches for Marijuana), who says, “It’s certainly cause for alarm. It’s very possible people are getting the message that this is OK. Obviously, impaired driving is a major public safety issue.”
If you are wondering why SAM’s other founder, former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, doesn’t give the whole “impaired driving is dangerous” speech, it’s probably because he once drunkenly crashed his car into the Capitol Building, and never served any time.
The real irony is that Brown claims to be so up in arms about the way the governor of Colorado plans to allocate revenues derived from legal pot sales. But Hickenlooper’s plan is a page taken directly out of the SAM playbook.
Kevin Sabet spent years teaching others how to cash in on opening rehab centers and using them to milk the government teet. With marijuana legalization gaining in popularity, he saw the industry as a cash cow and he enlisted a Kennedy to stand by his side.
Together, their goal is to convince as many state and city governments that they are something other than opportunists. Apparently, they’ve got Dr. Brown fooled.