DARE Posted A Weed Legalization Op-Ed…And Then Took It Down

Embarrassed by their accidental pro-marijuana post, D.A.R.E. removed the controversial piece after reading that NYMag.com had made hay of the group’s unintended U-turn in their guiding philosophy. “We just happen to know that legalizing and regulating marijuana will actually make everyone safer”, Carlis McDerment wrote. “We do not support legalization nor do we advocate for legalization of marijuana”, spokesperson John Lindsay said. The organization accidentally published the piece which was originally written for The Columbus Dispatch.

After deleting the op-ed from its website, a D.A.R.E. official confirmed the posting was accidental

“The goal of prohibiting marijuana was to eradicate its use, but in reality, the drug has become infinitely harder for law enforcement to control”, he continued in the letter. The answer isn’t prohibition and incarceration; the answer is regulation and education.