Long story short: Twitter is run by narcs.
Twitter has recently initiated itself as a soldier in the war on drugs by issuing users a warning when searching the site for “Marijuana”. This update comes in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (read: the federal government). As a part of a SAMHSA effort against substance abuse, the warning features a hotline intended for those suffering from addiction. Users will also receive this message when searching for “heroin” and “cocaine”.
You Know What Does Kill People? Booze.
However, the warning does not appear for alcohol-related searches. Despite WHO data shows that alcohol causes over 3 million deaths each year. The DEA confirming cannabis has literally never killed anyone, serves to further highlight this hypocrisy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the bootlicking lip service continues. The warning is absent when searching the site for words related to cannabis, including “cannabis” itself. Twitter’s list of “dangerous” addictions is also missing other drugs, both legal and illicit. Searches for LSD, MDMA, Adderall, benzos, and psilocybin prompt no warning. It is worth noting that a search for “opioids” does prompt the SAMHSA message. It is equally worth noting this study, which found that recreational cannabis legalization correlated with a 20%-35% reduction in opioid mortality rates. Just saying.
Hypocrisy Causes Backlash
With all of these inconsistencies, their goal becomes unclear. Why are so many dangerous and highly-abused drugs missing from their list if Twitter is so dedicated to preventing substance abuse?
The blatant hypocrisy has led to backlash and criticism against the social media giant for contributing to cannabis stigma, even with bipartisan and public support for legalization on the rise. The bootlickin’ policy change also comes as the House prepares to vote on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act of 2019 in a historic move to de-schedule and decriminalize cannabis use. The MORE Act also moves to expunge the records of those convicted on criminal cannabis charges.
All of this stigma and virtue-signaling aside, the House vote on the MORE Act is next week! So, in spite of this disappointing step backward, policy change and cannabis reform are on the horizon.
