The op-ed, written by a self-described “former deputy sheriff”, clearly extolls on the virtues of legalizing pot. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) seemed to have made a monumental sea change in their prohibitionist attitude on Monday by publishing a letter supporting marijuana legalization. “McDerment also argued that he supported legalization “precisely because I want to reduce youths’ drug use”, claiming that while legal vendors won’t sell to minors, “[d]rug dealers don’t care about a customer’s age”.
Advertisement
“Of course, children shouldn’t ingest marijuana unless a physician has legally recommended it”, writes McDerment.
Pointing to the failure of alcohol prohibition, he talks about how the intent of marijuana reform was to eradicate its use, but “the drug has become infinitely harder for law enforcement to control”.
Daily Intelligencer has reached out to D.A.R.E. for comment, and we’ll update once we hear back. “The answer isn’t prohibition and incarceration; the answer is regulation and education“, McDerment added.
The op-ed was written about an article entitled “Purchasing Marijuana Puts Kids At Risk” in which Dr. Johana Said argued that legalizing marijuana could have unsafe side effects and was published with the same headline. Based on the title alone, it’s easy to see why D.A.R.E. would run the piece – it certainly sounds like the kind of exploitative, fear-mongering malarky the organization is known for.
Advertisement
That’s not quite a D.A.R.E stance, which is absolute in its anti-drug ideology. The anti-substance abuse group also had to remove this piece from its site.
