| A photo of Michael Brown, who was killed in a Ferguson, Missouri police shooting. More images below. |
As we’ve reported, prominent addiction specialist and Project SAM principal Dr. Christian Thurstone stirred controversy via a blog post implying that marijuana contributed to — and perhaps even caused — the death of Michael Brown, whose shooting by a police officer caused weeks of rioting in Ferguson, Missouri. Thurstone subsequently removed the post but didn’t rescind his thesis, and that infuriates marijuana advocate Wanda James. She feels misinformation like that spread by Thurstone is being used to justify police shootings of “young black and brown men.”
| Dr. Christian Thurstone’s Twitter profile pic. |
Here’s an excerpt from Thurstone’s original post:
A toxicology report strongly suggests 18-year-old Michael Brown used cannabis shortly before his Aug. 9 shooting death by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., and that he was a heavy marijuana user.
The teenager’s death has sparked riots and protests and has raised very important — and painful — issues centered around racial disparities in law enforcement that must be discussed and addressed. Brown’s death also should serve as a tragic reminder that marijuana is not harmless, that it is not just like alcohol or “safer than alcohol,” that its consumption often leads to impairment that is very difficult for the public to measure — also making it tough for the public to hold users accountable for the harm they’ve caused others. Marijuana users also could be vulnerable to aggression and attacks while under the drug’s influence.
After a Twitter spat with marijuana reformers and a repudiation by Project SAM co-founder Kevin Sabet, Thurstone removed the post. But instead of apologizing, he claimed his comments had been “misstated and mischaracterized” and added this: “When emotions settle, we hope we can begin a conversation of how law enforcement, schools, health care, prevention and other systems can prevent something like this from happening again.”
| Wanda James. |
This response wasn’t nearly enough for James, a longtime marijuana entrepreneur who currently heads the Cannabis Global Initiative. Indeed, she was so upset by Thurstone’s statements that she reached out from Jamaica, where she’s currently meeting with government officials in an effort to promote marijuana legalization in that country.
“This is a horrible issue,” she allows. “When we’ve got uninformed professionals on the level of Dr. Thurstone saying things like, ‘Cannabis makes people violent,’ police departments use their statements to justify using deadly force, usually against young black and brown men between the ages of seventeen and 24.”
| Dr. Christian Thurstone’s Twitter profile pic. |
Here’s an excerpt from Thurstone’s original post:
A toxicology report strongly suggests 18-year-old Michael Brown used cannabis shortly before his Aug. 9 shooting death by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo., and that he was a heavy marijuana user.
The teenager’s death has sparked riots and protests and has raised very important — and painful — issues centered around racial disparities in law enforcement that must be discussed and addressed. Brown’s death also should serve as a tragic reminder that marijuana is not harmless, that it is not just like alcohol or “safer than alcohol,” that its consumption often leads to impairment that is very difficult for the public to measure — also making it tough for the public to hold users accountable for the harm they’ve caused others. Marijuana users also could be vulnerable to aggression and attacks while under the drug’s influence.
After a Twitter spat with marijuana reformers and a repudiation by Project SAM co-founder Kevin Sabet, Thurstone removed the post. But instead of apologizing, he claimed his comments had been “misstated and mischaracterized” and added this: “When emotions settle, we hope we can begin a conversation of how law enforcement, schools, health care, prevention and other systems can prevent something like this from happening again.”
| Wanda James. |
This response wasn’t nearly enough for James, a longtime marijuana entrepreneur who currently heads the Cannabis Global Initiative. Indeed, she was so upset by Thurstone’s statements that she reached out from Jamaica, where she’s currently meeting with government officials in an effort to promote marijuana legalization in that country.
“This is a horrible issue,” she allows. “When we’ve got uninformed professionals on the level of Dr. Thurstone saying things like, ‘Cannabis makes people violent,’ police departments use their statements to justify using deadly force, usually against young black and brown men between the ages of seventeen and 24.”” target=”_blank”>More at Westword.com.
