Jacob Sullum on Reefer Madness and the Michael Brown Shooting

Although Darren Wilson reportedly had the impression that Michael Brown was on drugs the day of their deadly encounter, he did not broach the subject during his grand jury testimony. That task fell to the prosecutors running the proceedings, who wanted the jurors to know that high doses of THC can cause "paranoia," "hallucinations," and "psychotic episodes." Jacob Sullum argues that the marijuana angle helped bolster Wilson's self-defense claim, steering the grand jury in the direction preferred by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch.