Article Introduction and Colleages' Blogs

News8Austin's article on Michael Phelps' suspension from swimming in Austin highlights the "Reefer Madness" hysteria that lives even in the twenty-first century. It also demonstrates a profound level of cognitive dissonance: even though absolutely no "anti-doping rule was violated," the federation still deemed it fitting to reprimand him for not acting as a "role model." Well, what about the DUI conviction he already had? Does anyone seriously consider driving under the influence of alcohol--which has been proven study after government-funded study to be more harmful, more addicting, more intoxicating, and even more of a gateway drug than cannabis--to be perfectly acceptable behavior, while responsibly consuming cannabis and harming no one at all is worthy of reprimand? It's time to face the facts: spewing propaganda may have flown in the pre-Internet days, but now the tools are available to counter such lies with actual science instead of fear-mongering.