America has a pot problem, why hate-crime hoaxes prosper and other commentary

From the left: America Has a Pot Problem

“The loosening of marijuana policies — especially the decision to legalize pot without adequately regulating it — has led to worse outcomes than many Americans expected,” admits The New York Times Editorial Board. “Surveys suggest that about 18 million people in the United States have used marijuana almost daily (or about five times a week) in recent years,” up from “less than 1 million in 1992.” More Americans now toke than drink alcohol. “At least one in 10 people who use marijuana develops an addiction, a similar share as with alcohol,” while “people who are frequently stoned can struggle to hold a job or take care of their families.” Add issues like DUI-pot and “nearly 2.8 million” cases a year of “cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which causes severe vomiting and stomach pain.” Instead of “hands-off commercial legalization,” the nation should shift to “grudging toleration.”

Conservative: Why Hate-Crime Hoaxes Prosper

“NBC, CBS, CNN, the Dallas Morning News and Good Morning America” were all “eager to promote” a major 2021 major 2021 hate-crime accusation, but “none of them has published any follow-up reports” now that it’s been exposed as a “total fabrication,” fumes T. Becket Adams at The Hill. Claims that a “white teenager” from Plano, Texas had “tortured” a black classmate “by shooting him with BBs, abusing him with racial slurs and even forcing him to drink urine” utterly collapsed at trial, with the accuser’s mother and lawyer now ordered to pay their victim $3.2 million in damages. “There is no shortage” of similar cases; they “persist precisely because we in the media keep falling for them” as journalists “bite on every bogus story.”

Liberal: Dems Must Look Past Midterms

Democrats this November “could win control of the House without dramatically changing the state of play in states they must win in 2028 to regain the presidency,” warns The Liberal Patriot’s Justin Vassallo. “The discrepancy between the Democrats’ solid lead in the generic ballot and the actual districts they have a shot at flipping crystallizes the severity of the problem.” But it seems “Democrats finally grasp it is crucial to run relatable candidates in swing districts,” a sign the party is finally acting “like more than another midterm victory is at stake.” To “regain working-class voters” and build a majority coalition, national Democrats must unite “progressives,” “pragmatic governors” and “Blue Dog” ones.

Space beat: Trump Is Restoring US Dominance

“Just two years ago, America’s longstanding dominance in space seemed under threat,” with China “surging ahead for more than a decade” but over the past year, “the energy and vision” of the United States “has shifted, thanks to the Trump administration and NASA’s new administrator, Jared Isaacman,” cheers Arthur Herman at The Wall Street Journal. “The centerpiece for the Trump space program is Artemis II,” a 10-day orbit of the moon set to launch next month. Plus, the Trump-created US Space Force “understands the threat” in space from China and Russia and is moving to counter it. “More than 50 years ago, America ushered in a global era of using space for communication and connectivity. Today, that U.S. dominance will produce space-based prosperity and enhance security.”

From the right: White House Steps on Own Feet

At a minimum, the flap over the “racist video” posted on President Trump’s account “meant the loss of one, two, three or more days that might have been devoted to making the case for Republicans in the midterm elections, now less than nine months away,” notes The Washington Examiner’s Byron York. Notably, it buried “the rollout” of “the new TrumpRx program,” which “has the admirable goal of pushing down the prices of drugs” — one more “small missed opportunity at a time when the White House needs to make the best use of its opportunities.” Odds favor Democrats winning the House in November; Trump “has a plan to defy history and the polls. But messes like the video controversy make the job harder by the day.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board