Issue Position: Dr. Rand Paul Plays The Game

Issue Position

Despite being what I assume to be a man of science, Dr. Rand Paul recently weighed in on the drug war with bad science. He http://www.huffpost.com/us/entry/3460009 said, "I think people who use marijuana all the time lose IQ points, I think they lose their drive to show up for work."

This kind of statement is a correlation/causation argument. It is ignorant and completely flys in the face of actual scientific research into amotivational syndrome and cannabis use. A statement like this is on par with saying, "Conservatives are intolerant bigots." Or, "Libertarians are gun-toting mouth-breathers." While there are bigots in the conservative movement and mouth breathing libertarians, and lazy cannabis users, correlation does not imply causation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_caus...

The research has shown that cannabis consumption has not been proven to cause amotivational syndrome:
http://www.drugscience.org/Petition/C3F.html
Or lower IQ:
http://www.cbsnews.com/storysynopsis.rbml?pageType=health&ur...

Dr. Rand Paul should do his due diligence as a man of medicine and science before spouting off "reefer madness" nonsense. But, of course, Rand is playing the game. He says drug users shouldn't be put in jail, which is what we want to hear. Then he peppers reason with a little bit of stupid, to cater to that part of the electorate. Well played Rand. I hate the game.

Source