From the Washington Post:

Annapolis Police Chief Michael A. Pristoop thought he came prepared when he testified before a Maryland State Senate panel on Tuesday about the perils of legalizing marijuana.

In researching his testimony against two bills before the Judicial Proceedings Committee, Pristoop said, he had found a news article to illustrate the risks of legalization: 37 people in Colorado, he said, had died of marijuana overdoses on the very day that the state legalized pot.…

Trouble is, the facts were about as close to the truth as oregano is to pot. After a quick Google search on his laptop, [State Senator Jamin] Raskin—the sponsor of the legalization bill that was the subject of the Senate hearing—advised the chief that the Colorado overdose story, despite its deadpan delivery, had been made up for laughs by The Daily Currant, an online comedy magazine.

Ouch! For more on the momentum of marijuana law reform, check out today’s New York Times.