FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Drugs

These Cops Are Sorry for Telling Students ‘Doobies Make Boobies’

“We’re pretty sure getting high does not cause enhanced mammary growth in men,” York Regional Police tweeted.
No, weed won't give you man boobs. Photo via Flickr user mendolus shank

Reefer madness is nothing new, but recently some police officers from Ontario’s York Region came up with a pretty novel pile of bullshit when they told high school students that using cannabis causes boys to grow boobs.

As reported in York Region News, officers from York Regional Police recently participated in a panel on weed legalization for Catholic school students in the area. At the event, held at the headquarters of licensed producer Aurora, one of the officers told students a downside to smoking weed is it makes you grow “boobies.”

Advertisement

“You have peer pressure and drug dealers telling you about the great effects of marijuana, but I’m here to tell you there are some very negative effects,” said Nigel Cole, a drug recognition officer for York region. “There are studies that marijuana lowers your testosterone; we call it ‘doobies make boobies.’ We’re finding 60 percent of 14-year-olds are developing ‘boobies.’”

In an email to VICE, York police said some of the information provided by their officers “was not accurate.”

“We have just become aware of this and have sent a tweet out apologizing. We will be looking into it further to determine what exactly occurred and identify the most appropriate ways to remedy the situation,” the email said.

Earlier, the department’s Twitter account issued the following tweet:

“We’re no health experts, but we’re pretty sure getting high does not cause enhanced mammary growth in men. We are aware of the misinformation about cannabis that was unfortunately provided to the community by our officers. We’re working to address it.”

CNN previously touted the “smoking weed causes man boobs” theory back in 2013, when they featured an article by surgeon Anthony Youn who said there is a link between THC and a decrease in testosterone in men.

He said smoking weed could cause gynecomastia—a condition where men have excessive breast tissue and noted the condition affects 60 percent of 14-year-old boys. But even Youn admitted at the time that no conclusive studies proving a link exist.

Follow Manisha Krishnan on Twitter.