What Messages Are We Sending to the Kids? A Hard Look at Government Hypocrisy
A group of lawmakers recently sent Trump a letter urging him not to reschedule cannabis because it would send "the wrong message to the kids." You know what? I actually agree that cannabis shouldn't be rescheduled—but not for their reasons. Cannabis should be completely descheduled, removed from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, because it's not a "substance" in the pharmaceutical sense. It's a plant. And in a country that allegedly values individual freedom and bodily autonomy, free people should decide what they put in their own bodies.
But let's set that aside for a moment and really examine this "wrong message to the kids" argument. Because if we're genuinely concerned about what messages we're sending to the next generation, we need to take a hard, honest look at what the U.S. government is actually teaching children through its actions. And spoiler alert: the lessons are absolutely fucking terrifying.
Lesson One: Violence Is Acceptable When We Do It
Let's start with the most glaring hypocrisy: the government's selective moral outrage about harm to children.
These lawmakers are clutching their pearls about cannabis "sending the wrong message," while the U.S. government actively sends billions of dollars in bombs to Israel that are being dropped on Gaza, killing thousands of Palestinian children. As of recent counts, over 14,000 children have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. Children. Actual kids, not theoretical future cannabis users.
But apparently, that's okay. That sends the right message. Because those children—according to the prevailing narrative—pose a "threat" to Israeli security. Never mind that they're children living in an open-air prison, with no control over Hamas, no say in their government, and no ability to defend themselves against one of the most advanced militaries in the world.
What message does this send? Simple: violence is acceptable when the government deems it necessary. Your life's value depends entirely on where you were born and who holds power.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military is bombing random ships in the Caribbean—20 boats and counting—that account for less than 1% of all drugs entering the United States. There's no legal oversight, no due process, just bombing with a "trust me bro" attitude. The vast majority of drugs come through legal ports of entry, but actually addressing that would require systemic solutions instead of theatrical displays of force.
What are we teaching kids? That violence is the answer, that might makes right, and that the rule of law only applies when it's convenient.
Lesson Two: Free Speech Has Limits (That We Define)
Want to exercise your First Amendment rights? Better make sure you're criticizing the right people.
Disagree with U.S. foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel? You're an antisemite. Criticize government overreach? Depending on who's in power, you're either a "Nazi" or a "lefty lunatic" or a "right-wing extremist." The labels change, but the message stays the same: shut up and comply, or we'll smear you into silence.
We're teaching kids that free speech is only free when you're saying what the powerful want to hear. Step out of line, and you'll be labeled, ostracized, and potentially criminalized. Some message about freedom, huh?
Lesson Three: Drugs Are Bad (Unless Pfizer Makes Them)
Here's my personal favorite piece of hypocrisy: "Drugs are bad! Unless a guy in a white coat says they're not—then they're not just good, they're so good that we need to protect the companies making them."
Let's talk about the trustworthy pharmaceutical industry that these lawmakers are so eager to protect:
Purdue Pharma: Knowingly lied about the addictive potential of OxyContin, fueling an opioid epidemic that has killed over 500,000 Americans. The Sackler family walked away billions richer while communities were destroyed. Settlement: $6 billion. Nobody went to jail.
Johnson & Johnson: Sold talcum baby powder containing asbestos for decades, causing ovarian cancer and mesothelioma in thousands of women and their children. They knew. Internal documents prove they knew. Settlement: $8.9 billion. Nobody went to jail.
Pfizer: Between 1991 and 2017, paid $4.7 billion in fines for everything from illegal marketing of drugs to defrauding Medicare/Medicaid programs. They literally paid doctors to prescribe their drugs, lied about efficacy, and suppressed negative research findings. Nobody went to jail.
But sure, cannabis is the dangerous drug we need to keep away from kids. Not the pills that pharmaceutical companies aggressively market, not the opioids they lied about, not the contaminated products they knowingly sold. Those are fine. Those are medicine. Those come from "trusted" sources.
What message does this send? That profit trumps safety, that corporations are above the law, and that you should trust authority figures even when they're demonstrably lying to you. Oh, and nature—with its millions of years of evolutionary wisdom—is dangerous, but synthetic compounds created by companies with extensive criminal records are safe.
Forget the endocannabinoid system that exists in every human body. Forget the thousands of years of medicinal cannabis use. Trust the pill. Trust the corporation. Don't trust your own body's natural biology.
Lesson Four: War Is the American Way of Life
Remember Trump's campaign promise of being the "no new wars president"? How's that working out?
We've got military action ramping up globally, proposals to invade Mexico to "fight the cartels," threats to drone strike sovereign nations, and a full-steam imperial American movement that makes it clear: war is just what Americans do. Death and fire to the world, wrapped in a flag and called patriotism.
For a country that loves to talk about "protecting children," we sure seem comfortable creating millions of orphans around the globe. But at least we're protecting them from the horror of... seeing adults use cannabis legally?
The message to kids: Violence solves problems. Military might equals righteousness. And American exceptionalism means we get to bomb whoever we want, whenever we want, for whatever reason we deem justified.
Lesson Five: Don't Trust Your Own Eyes
The Epstein case is the most recent and glaring example of this lesson in government gaslighting.
We all know Epstein trafficked children to wealthy, powerful people. Trump himself said he'd release the Epstein files during his campaign. But when he became president, they "released" documents that were already publicly available, made a big spectacle about transparency, and then quietly let the issue die.
Now the line is: there's nothing there. And if you keep asking about it: "Why are you still talking about this?" The names on those flight logs? The detailed records of who visited that island? The corroborating testimony from victims? None of it matters because the government says it doesn't.
What message does this send? Don't trust what you see with your own eyes. Don't trust your logical conclusions. Trust what the powerful tell you to believe, even when it contradicts observable reality.
If Joe Biden's America was "Brave New World"—comfortable numbness through pharmaceutical compliance—Trump's America is "1984," complete with Zionists controlling the most powerful military in the world because their president "definitely wasn't" in the Epstein files and "never had a relationship" with Epstein. In fact, who was Epstein? Why are you still talking about it? Move on. There are cannabis users to prosecute.
Lesson Six: Veterans Are Props, Not People
Finally, let's talk about what we teach kids about service and sacrifice.
If you serve in the military, the best you'll get is a politician doing a passing comment about your "service" while they pretend to fight for you. But once your usefulness runs out? Once you're dealing with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, chronic pain from combat wounds, or just trying to reintegrate into civilian life?
You're on your own.
Veterans kill themselves at alarming rates—an average of 17 per day. Many turn to cannabis for relief from PTSD, pain, and insomnia because the pharmaceuticals the VA prescribes either don't work or create worse problems. But cannabis remains federally illegal, potentially costing veterans their benefits if they're caught using it.
The message: Your sacrifice means nothing once we're done using you. We'll send you to kill and die for corporate interests and geopolitical games, and when you come back broken, we'll tell you that the one medicine that actually helps is illegal and immoral.
The Research They're Ignoring
If lawmakers were genuinely concerned about harm reduction and sending the right message to kids, they'd look at the actual science.
Professor David Nutt's groundbreaking research on drug harms—published in The Lancet, one of the world's most prestigious medical journals—clearly demonstrates that alcohol is far more dangerous than cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA. His research ranks drugs based on harm to users and harm to others, using rigorous scientific methodology.
The results? Alcohol is the most harmful drug overall. Cannabis doesn't even crack the top ten. Yet alcohol is legal, socially acceptable, and aggressively marketed, while cannabis remains federally prohibited.
What message does this send? That our drug policies aren't based on actual harm reduction or public health—they're based on politics, corporate interests, and cultural prejudice.
The Real Message to Kids
So let's be clear about what messages we're actually sending to the next generation:
Violence is acceptable when the powerful do it. Free speech only counts when you agree with the government. Trust corporations that have proven track records of lying and killing people for profit. War is normal and good. Don't believe your own eyes or logical reasoning. If you serve your country, you're disposable once you're no longer useful.
But cannabis? Cannabis is where we draw the line. That's the "wrong message."
The Sticky Bottom Line
If these lawmakers were genuinely concerned about sending the right message to kids, they'd start by addressing the absolutely toxic, hypocritical, and harmful messages their own policies are broadcasting loud and clear.
Cannabis isn't harmless. No drug is. But compared to alcohol—which is legal, marketed, and culturally celebrated—cannabis is miles safer by every objective measure. And that's all we've ever argued: if society can accept alcohol as a national drug despite its massive harms, then by any logical standard, we should be equally accepting of cannabis, psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and numerous other substances with lower danger profiles.
The "wrong message to kids" argument is a smokescreen. It's a convenient excuse to maintain prohibition while ignoring far more harmful government actions and policies. It's easier to demonize a plant than to address the systemic violence, corruption, and hypocrisy that define American governance.
So here's a message for those lawmakers concerned about what we're teaching children: Kids aren't stupid. They can see the contradictions. They can recognize hypocrisy. And the more you lie to them about cannabis while bombing children overseas, protecting pharmaceutical criminals, and gaslighting them about Epstein, the less they'll trust anything you say.
Maybe the real "wrong message" is teaching kids that the government gives a damn about their wellbeing in the first place.
ROLE MODELING CANNABIS FOR TEENS, READ ON..
