Filed Under: Gummy Panic
A new wave of cannabis hysteria is making headlines in the UK, with outlets like The Telegraph pushing alarmist stories claiming weed gummies are a public health threat. Their latest? Cannabis edibles could cause heart attacks, especially in teens. The kicker? Most of these claims rest on outdated data, junk science, and a heaping dose of moral panic.
Let’s rip the wrapper off this one.
The article in question, titled ‘I thought I was going to die’: The health risks of cannabis gummies, is built around a few anecdotes, a study from the U.S., and a whole lot of hand-wringing. It leads with a quote from a 22-year-old who said he “thought he was going to die” after taking a gummy in Colorado, hardly representative of global medical consensus. But The Telegraph doesn’t stop there. It dives headfirst into unverified fear-mongering about youth addiction, cardiac events, and supposedly lax regulations around edibles.
The truth? There is no conclusive evidence that cannabis edibles directly cause heart attacks in healthy individuals. A Harvard Health review notes that the existing studies often fail to control for alcohol, tobacco, or pre-existing conditions. That’s not to say there are zero risks, but to suggest gummies are triggering a wave of cardiac crises is irresponsible.
More important is how these articles frame the issue. They rarely cite real experts in cannabis pharmacology, and when they do, they cherry-pick data to support prohibitionist conclusions. No mention is made of the vast difference in dosage control, product regulation, or testing standards between legal and illicit markets. No mention of how edibles are helping patients avoid smoking. No nuance.
It’s all fear, no facts.
We’ve been here before. In the 1930s, William Randolph Hearst ran racist scare stories about cannabis turning Mexicans into murderers. In the 1980s, the Just Say No campaign turned cannabis into a Schedule I villain. And now, a gummy bear with THC is the new boogeyman.
Where are the balanced studies? Where is the science comparing the adverse effects of alcohol gummies or prescription drugs? Where is the journalism that puts these isolated cases in a broader public health context? It’s not in The Telegraph, that’s for sure.
What’s happening in the UK is part of a global pushback against cannabis normalization. As countries inch toward reform, there’s always a segment of the media and political class that fights to claw it back. These scare pieces are strategic. They keep older voters nervous. They give cover to lawmakers who want to stall legalization. And they distract from the real harms of prohibition.
This is not journalism. It’s reefer madness in clickbait form.
Let them chew on that.
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