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Teens Didn’t Just Discover Weed. So Why Is The Wall St. Journal Acting Like They Did?

The Wall Street Journal has a new teen-cannabis panic on offer: vape clouds in school bathrooms, sneaky hits during class and administrators playing cat-and-mouse with students who keep finding ways to get high. The gadgets are newer. The hardware is newer. The hiding spots may be newer, too. But the underlying behavior? Please. American teenagers did not just discover weed because a dispensary opened in town. What the Journal really found is an old adolescent ritual in updated packaging, then stretched it into a referendum on legal cannabis.

Let’s get the obvious part out of the way. Teen cannabis use is real. The risks are real. THC can be harmful to developing brains, and schools have every right to care about what students are doing on campus. But that is not the same as proving legalization created some brand-new youth cannabis crisis. That leap is where the piece gets slippery.

Because once you leave the anecdote and look at the trendline, the panic starts to wobble. The University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future report shows past-year marijuana use among 12th graders at 26.0% in 2024, down from 35.7% in 2019. Among 8th graders, it was 7.0% in 2024, down from 11.8% in 2019. That is not an explosion. That is a decline.

Zoom out further and the same pattern holds. A 2026 Addictive Behaviors paper, “Trends in US adolescent cannabis use, 1991–2023”, found that youth cannabis use rose through the 1990s, peaked in 1999 and then broadly declined. Lifetime use fell from 47.3% in 1999 to 30.1% in 2023. Recent use dropped from 27.1% to 17.8%. Early initiation fell too. In other words, if you want to tell a dramatic story about teen cannabis, the most inconvenient fact is that the peak is a quarter-century behind us.

And if the argument is specifically that legalization caused kids to start using more, the best recent policy literature does not back that up either. A 2024 JAMA Psychiatry study, “Recreational Marijuana Laws and Teen Marijuana Use, 1993-2021”, found no evidence that recreational marijuana laws were associated with current or frequent teen use. A separate 2024 JAMA Pediatrics study, “Recreational Cannabis Legalization, Retail Sales, and Adolescent Substance Use Through 2021”, found no net increases in adolescent cannabis, alcohol, cigarette or e-cigarette use tied to recreational legalization or retail sales. That does not mean every concern is fake. It means the Journal is hinting at a causal story the evidence does not support.

That is the framing trick. The article keeps pointing to real things, then attaching them to the wrong villain. Teens getting THC vapes from older friends? Real. Peer-to-peer sales through Snapchat? Real. Bad packaging that looks too much like candy? Also real. But none of that means adult legality itself is the root problem. If a kid gets cannabis from an older sibling, a sloppy adult or some classmate running a side hustle through social media, that is a diversion problem. A safeguards problem. An adults-failing-kids problem. It is not proof that legal access for adults was the mistake. If an eighth grader grabs a parent’s car keys and takes off, the problem is not that cars are legal for adults. The problem is access, supervision and adults failing to secure something meant for grown people.

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SHOCKING VIDEO RESURFACES: Trump’s New DHS Pick Markwayne Mullin PRAISED and HUGGED the Cop Who MURDERED Unarmed Air Force Vet Ashli Babbitt – Called Him a Hero!

A newly resurfaced video is raising eyebrows across conservative circles after comments from Sen. Markwayne Mullin, President Trump’s latest pick to head the Department of Homeland Security after removing Kristi Noem, praising and even hugging Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt.

Ashli Babbitt, a 35-year-old Air Force veteran and Trump supporter, was gunned down in cold blood on January 6, 2021, while peacefully protesting.

She was unarmed, posing no threat, yet Byrd fired a single shot that ended her life as she attempted to climb through a broken window in the Capitol.

But according to Mullin, Byrd is the real victim here! In an interview on C-SPAN from July 2021, six months after Babbitt was murdered, Mullin recounts the moments after the shooting.

“After it happened, he came over. He was physically and emotionally distraught. I actually gave him a hug and I said, ‘sir, you did what you had to do.’” Mullin went even further, telling investigators that he heard Byrd issue a warning before firing, a claim debunked by video evidence showing no such warning was given.

He told media outlets that Byrd “didn’t have a choice” and that his shot “saved people’s lives.”

Sen. Mullin: I guarantee you—I don’t know for a fact, but I guarantee you—he’s never had to pull his weapon in a manner like that before. He was the last person in the world who ever wanted to use force like that; he wasn’t wanting to do that.

I know for a fact because, after it happened, he came over and was physically and emotionally distraught, and I actually gave him a hug. And I said, “Sir, you did what you had to do.” And I mean that.

Unfortunately, for the young lady, her family’s life has changed. It was an unfortunate situation where she lost her life, and some people lost their loved ones.

But the lieutenant’s life has also changed, too, because if it’s the first time you’ve ever had to use lethal force, that doesn’t ever leave you.

And it wasn’t his choice; he didn’t show up to work that day to have to do that. He was doing his job, and he got put in a situation where he had to do his job because there was a member still on the balcony.

If you’re going to present your weapon in a [certain] manner and give commands, and they still don’t listen and they still approach, you don’t have a choice. Either you have to, at that point, discharge your weapon in a manner of self-defense, or that weapon is going to be taken away from you.

It’s going to be used on you, and it’s going to put all of our lives in danger, too.

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Epstein and the coming “age of accountability” psy-op

In the wake Prince Andrew’s arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gave an interview in which he said “nobody is above the law.”

And the media lost no time in proving my point. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson echoed it in an interview of her own. Everyone from Al Jazeera to the South China Morning Post has taken up the cry.

In one of those curiously timed coincidences, the UN actually used the same exact phrase just a day before Sir Keir.

Then there’s this long article in the Atlantic, I won’t sport with your intelligence by relating the bulk of the text, we concern ourselves only with the concluding paragraph:

The former Prince Andrew acted as he did because he lived in a world in which someone like him never faced consequences. That isn’t true anymore.

That’s the narrative in a nutshell. The system is fair and treats everyone the same. Old Guard bad, corruption being rooted out, accountability for the old boys club. Like #MeToo on crack.

In this vein we have the arrest of Peter Mandelson.

The investigation, and alleged attempted suicide, of Norway’s former PM Thorbjørn Jagland

The resignation of World Economic Forum chief Børge Brende over his “Epstein links”

The “retirement” of Harvard President and former Treasury Secretary of Larry Summers

Even stuff as small as the revelation of Bill Gates’ affairs with a couple of Russian women.

None of those latter four come close to actual arrests, of course. And the story is very much that while the UK (and Europe in general) are willing to act on Epstein, the US is lagging behind.

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Bessent Says US May “Unsanction” More Russian Oil Amid Energy Crisis

Yesterday, when discussing the stunning development that Russia would be granted a one-month license to sell (formerly) sanctioned oil to india while the Straits of Hormuz are blocked, we said that this step is just the start, and precited “unlimited extensions” in the future. We had to wait less than 24 hours for this to come true.

Speaking to Fox Business, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US may lift sanctions on further Russian oil supply after a move Thursday to give Indian refiners the green light to purchase crude from the nation.

“Treasury agreed to let our allies in India start buying Russian oil that was already on the water,” Bessent said, explaining that “to ease the temporary gap of oil around the world, we have given them permission to accept the Russian oil. We may unsanction other Russian oil.”

Bessent said there’s “hundreds of millions of sanctioned barrels of crude on the water now and in essence, by unsanctioning them, Treasury can create supply,” he said, quoting verbatim what we said on February 19.

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Kennedy Heir Running For Congress Lists Trust Funds, No Earned Income

Financial disclosure documents tied to congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg show the Kennedy family heir reported no earned income in 2025, while listing four family trust funds as financial assets.

Schlossberg, the only grandson of President John F. Kennedy, is running for the Democratic nomination in New York’s 12th Congressional District, the seat being vacated by longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler.

The disclosure filings, required for federal candidates, offer a glimpse into the finances of one of the country’s most prominent political heirs as he attempts to enter elective office for the first time.

According to the filing highlighted in the report, Schlossberg did not report any “earned income” for 2025, meaning he listed no wages or salary from employment during that year.

Instead, the disclosure lists four separate trust funds tied to the Kennedy family fortune. Trust income is categorized differently from wages or salary under federal financial disclosure rules.

Trust funds are commonly used among wealthy families to hold investments and distribute income to beneficiaries over time.

Financial disclosures submitted by congressional candidates typically list assets, liabilities and income sources, though they often report ranges rather than exact figures.

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Waste of the Day: DEI Contractors Remain in Military’s K-12 Schools

Two teachers gave a presentation about how “elementary school is the perfect time” to “show students the diversity of gender expression and gender activity.” Educators were encouraged to hold “critical conversations” about “the relationships between identity and power” and “privilege,” which were meant to result in “crying” and “explicit confrontations.”

Many DEI consultants were removed after President Donald Trump took office in 2025 and ordered a ban on federal funds being used to teach or implement DEI principles, but some of the companies hired under Biden remain.

DoDEA paid $30,175 last year to continue gym teachers’ membership in the professional society, SHAPE America, which instills its National Health Education Standards in gym classes. Board member Cara Grant said of the health standards, “We recognize that systemic disparities exist within our educational systems, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities. Our approach is not simply to level the playing field but to dismantle the structures that perpetuate inequality.”

During a DoDEA presentation on the SHAPE standards in 2021, one teacher instructed her colleagues that “talking about heterosexuality as the norm” can “inherently cause conflict.”

DoDEA also paid $141,000 last year to the curriculum development company thinkLaw.

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‘The People Showed Up’: South Carolina Lawmakers Side With Parental Choice in Two Vaccine Votes

South Carolina senators clashed Wednesday over childhood vaccination policy, but ultimately sided with parental choice in two key votes, the South Carolina Daily Gazette reported.

A Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee voted 7-1 to advance legislation prohibiting vaccine mandates for children under age 2.

Minutes later, the panel voted 6-2 to reject a separate proposal that would have removed religious exemptions for the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Advocacy groups supporting parental rights called the outcome a major statement on constitutional protections.

“Yesterday was a remarkable day for South Carolinians — and a reminder to the rest of the nation and the world that constitutional rights still matter,” Andrea Lamont Nazarenko, Ph.D., of the South Carolina Health Rights Cooperative said in a joint statement with Ashley Jones and Christi Dixon of South Carolina Family First.

“At a time when inalienable liberties are increasingly restricted in the name of public health, the South Carolina Senate made it clear: not here,” the groups said.

Dawn Richardson, director of advocacy for the National Vaccine Information Center, said the decision to halt the MMR proposal sends a broader message about vaccine mandates.

“It sends a strong message nationally that forced vaccination with the MMR or any vaccine holds no legitimate place in health policy or law in the U.S.,” she said. “Vaccine mandates need to be repealed, not entrenched.”

The debate unfolded amid South Carolina’s largest measles outbreak in decades. State health officials reported 990 measles cases as of March 3.

Linda Bell, the state’s epidemiologist, told lawmakers that about 95% of measles cases involve unvaccinated people. She said infections appear to be slowing after a surge in vaccinations last month, which rose about 70% compared with February 2025.

Federal health officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected to arrive next week to help contain the outbreak, according to Reuters.

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Surreal NCAA Scandal: California Basketball Coach Was Moonlighting in Multiple States as a Pimp

Even in the large, expansive, and sordid history of college sports scandals, this one might be one of the strangest.

According to ESPN, California State University, Bakersfield, has been rocked by a surreal scandal that has overshadowed the fact that the team is dead last in the Big West Conference.

(Which is probably for the best for the Roadrunners, given that they’re 8-22.)

But it doesn’t appear that Cal State Bakersfield’s athletic department will be answering any questions about that putrid record any time soon.

Instead, the department will undoubtedly be peppered with questions about “temporary assistant coach” Kevin Mays.

In August, then-Cal State Bakersfield basketball head coach Rod Barnes received an anonymous email alleging that Mays had been operating as a pimp across four different states.

“FIX IT OR THE WHOLE STAFF WILL FALL,” the tipster, who had identified a woman allegedly being trafficked by Mays, said in the email.

The tipster added that it was a “first warning and a final warning.”

Barnes would forward that email to school officials, which prompted an investigation that would eventually lead to criminal charges being pressed against Mays.

Mays is currently being held without bail as he faces an extensive list of charges — 11 in total — spanning both felonies and misdemeanors.

Among the most serious allegations are felony counts of pimping, along with charges tied to illegal weapons and drug trafficking.

Prosecutors accused him of possessing automatic firearms and high-capacity magazines, as well as methamphetamine and marijuana that authorities say were intended for distribution. Those allegations alone carry significant penalties if proven in court.

In addition, investigators claimed Mays had more than 600 images of child sexual abuse material and distributed obscene content involving a minor.

Despite the damning list of accusations, Mays has entered a plea of not guilty to every charge.

The bizarre scandal unsurprisingly took the sports world by storm.

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Arbitration victory for workers denied COVID-19 vaccine exemptions

During COVID-19 lockdowns many Canadian employers implemented vaccine mandates, forcing employees to choose between job loss or an unwanted COVID-19 vaccination. TDF lawyers met with many union members confronted with this dilemma, and explained their legal rights under human rights legislation and collective agreements

Many religious union members who opposed vaccination due to their sincerely held religious beliefs, filed religious exemption requests with their employers. However, these religious exemptions were often denied arbitrarily and superficially. Sometimes employers requested written proof of relevant spiritual doctrine from a religious objector. Sometimes employers summarily rejected claims of sincere religious belief.

In 2022, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), on behalf of 7 unionized Air Canada pilots, brought grievances against Air Canada for improperly rejecting their vaccine exemption requests. After their religious exemption requests were denied, the pilots were placed on unpaid leaves of absence. The union members alleged workplace religious discrimination under their Collective Agreement and the Canadian Human Rights Act.

A labour arbitrator has now ruled in favour of the pilots, as reported in Air Canada v. Air Line Pilots’ Association 2026 CanLII 16803 (CA LA).

Arbitrator Hayes ruled that denying these religious exemption requests was improper and resulted in workplace discrimination contrary to the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Collective Agreement. The arbitrator held that it was not appropriate for Air Canada to direct employees to justify religious exemptions with a “personalized, written, and dated explanation from your religious leader explaining the religious reasons why you are unable to be vaccinated against COVID-19.” Arbitrator Hayes reiterated that the law requires an employer to assess an individual’s subjective religious beliefs rather than making an overly objective determination of whether those beliefs objectively conform to the mandates of the religion.

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GOP Rep. Nancy Mace Plans to Investigate Outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem: ‘We Need to Hold Our Own Accountable’

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said Friday that she plans to investigate outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem regarding a potential misuse of taxpayer funds.

“I trust President Trump and his judgment here,” Mace said of Trump’s decision to fire Noem during an interview with Newsmax.

“One of my questions is Corey Lewandowski. Is he going with her? Where is he going in all of this?” Mace asked.

Lewandowski served as President Donald Trump’s first campaign manager during his 2016 White House run and has remained close to the commander in chief.

He was also considered a “special government employee” who was serving as an adviser to Noem, Mediate reported.

Fox News’s Jacqui Heinrich reported on Thursday that, “Noem had sought to appoint Lewandowski as her chief of staff, but the president blocked that decision amid these rumors of an [extra-marital] affair.”

In the Newsmax interview, Mace also praised Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy, whose tough questioning of Noem during a Senate hearing on Tuesday is widely seen to have been key to Trump’s ousting her.

“The second thing is, I want to thank, I’m very grateful to Republican Senator Kennedy,” Mace added. “I had no idea how much money — hundreds of millions of dollars — that Kristi Noem had wasted on her personal PR for all those TV ads that are running across the country that have nothing to do with deporting illegal aliens.”

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