Meghan McCain Thinks Weed Is Ruining Cities. No…Really. She Does.
Meghan McCain has been on a journey, but not the kind induced by whatever her Uber driver was smoking. The former View host took to X this March 4 to announce that she “deeply regrets” her past support for marijuana legalization, and now believes that the drug is ruining American cities.
“I never would have supported the legalization of marijuana had I known what would end up happening to young people and our cities,” wrote the daughter of the late John McCain. “I deeply regret it.”
The question you’ll ask is why. Well, it turns out, the answer doesn’t have anything to do with data, research or any measurable harm attested to by studies. The problem has to do with her nose. Or more specifically, the pungent smell that now permeates American cities.
“Every major city and uber in them just reeks of weeds everywhere. It is absolutely vile,” she clarified.
As McCain herself explained, she hasn’t always been so appalled by the stuff. Back in 2012, she came out publicly in favor of legalization in her book America You Sexy Bi—h, telling Jay Leno on The Tonight Show that she’d smoked a joint while doing research in New Orleans and had come to believe that legalizing cannabis and taxing it could deliver major economic benefits to the country. (via The Hollywood Reporter)
“I think it is a substance that does no more damage than alcohol does,” she wrote at the time, little knowing the smell that would haunt her in a decade no cocktail could quite imitate.
Strangely enough, after John McCain’s death in 2018, Meghan went even further, saying that she was so angry about the stigma attached to cannabis use. She even claimed that cannabis treatment might have extended her father’s life, referencing research on THC and CBD combinations showing longer survival times for glioblastoma patients.
“I have to tell you, going through what I went through last year, I am so angry that there is such a stigma attached to cannabis, to marijuana, to anything having to do with the medical benefits of cannabis oil and marijuana any way,” she said, per Marijuana Moment.
So, what changed between “this could save lives and fix the economy” and “my Uber smells bad?” McCain hasn’t elaborated beyond the tweet, but the folks in the comments section—arguably responsible for the smell that torments her daily commute—had some strong words in response.
“Oh no, a conservative smelled something mildly unpleasant? Quick, BURN THE CONSTITUTION!” wrote one user and followed that up with an expletive.
“The weed smell in big cities really takes away from the normal great smells like bus exhaust piss and sewage,” replied another person, and I have to say, they do raise a pretty interesting point.
“You don’t like the smell so you regret allowing people to consume weed?” Oh, how the morality bends to the nose and wilts in the backseat of an Uber.
Not everyone was in such an unforgiving mood. “For what it’s worth, pretty rare and cool to see someone in the public eye saying ‘You know what, I got that wrong and I regret it’ regardless of the issue. Well done,” said one user.
Meghan isn’t citing addiction statistics or any specific public health concern, just the olfactory offense of riding in a car near someone who smokes. So, we’ll address the facts she’s leaving out, and the arguments she’s failing to make.
What the data says about marijuana use after legalization
Contrary to what McCain thinks, since the states began legalizing cannabis for adults in 2012, there have been significant drops in marijuana use across 8th, 10th, and 12th graders according to federally sponsored survey data (per NORML), with past-year use falling 30% among 12th graders, 44% among 10th graders, and 34% among 8th graders over that period. Teen use is not spiraling; it’s actually near historic lows.
The leading theory is simple to understand. Researchers studying Washington State after legalization suggested that placing cannabis sales behind licensed dispensaries with age verification likely made it harder, not easier, for minors to get their hands on it. Compare that to the unregulated black market that existed before, and you’ll see why more guardrails always trumps the alternative, which is leaving everything in a haze of inevitable, unlawful behavior.
That said, the overall picture is more nuanced. Among teens, cannabis use has clearly declined, but among adults, we have the opposite. According to NIDA, past-year marijuana use climbed from 19% of Americans in 2021 to 22.3% in 2024, which is a historic high.
Data supports McCain’s complaint in a narrow sense, but the framing is still a stretch. Sure, the smell is real, and you might be exposed to it randomly, but so is cigarette smoke, and nobody’s calling that a civilization-threatening crisis.
As far as most people are concerned, the smell McCain is referring to is just a policy working as intended.
(featured image: YouTube/Citizen McCain with Meghan McCain)
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