Two curious stories came across the news desk here at Leafly World Headquarters last week. The first had to do with a herd of stoned sheep going on a psychotic rampage in a Welsh village. I know you are thinking Oh come on but here is the actual headline in The Telegraph which is an actual respected newspaper in London: 'Stoned' sheep go on 'psychotic rampage' after eating cannabis plants dumped in Welsh village So I exaggerate not. The Telegraph piece even had a photo of one of the sheep in question wagging its tongue in a pose that indicated both wacked-out stoniness and a cheeky stick-it-to-the-man attitude. Image via The Telegraph Because we all know what tongue-wagging means about a persons consumption preferences. A photo posted by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Mar 19 2016 at 7:34am PDT Nuff said. The second story had to do with the leader of the New York City Police Department Bill Bratton who well read the New York Post headline yourself: Bill Bratton blames drug violence in NYC on pot Follow his reasoning if you can. Here in New York the violence we see associated with drugs the vast majority of it is around the issue of marijuana which is ironic considering the explosion in use of heroin now in the city the chief said Sunday on a local New York City radio show. Interestingly enough here in New York City most of the violence we see violence around drug trafficking is involving marijuana and I have to scratch my head as we are seeing many states wanting to legalize marijuana and more liberalization of policies he added. This is nonsense. Two years ago New York Mayor Bill de Blasio instituted a policy mandating that people possessing less than 25 grams (just under one ounce) of cannabis be given a ticket rather than arrested. Since then cannabis arrests have plummeted. The effect on violent crime in the city has been zero. In 2015 NYC police recorded 1.2 percent fewer felony offenses than the previous year a statistically insignificant change. There is no crime spike. In fact violent crime in New York City has fallen by 35 percent since 2001 and by 80 percent since 1990. Where am I sourcing my data? The NYC Police Department. In Seattle and Denver police data are showing that the only connection between cannabis legalization and crime is that many fewer people get arrested for possessing it. Crime rises or falls regardless of whether cops are arresting people for marijuana. Blaming cannabis for a rise in crime even one that the chiefs own data show doesnt exist is a time-honored ruse that dates back to New Orleans in the 1930s. Back then voters were up in arms over a wave of vice sweeping the city. New Orleans District Attorney Eugene Stanley blamed cannabis. It wasnt merely a mild intoxicant he claimed; it actually caused crime. Its use sweeps away all restraint and to its influence may be attributed many of our present-day crimes he wrote. You can read Stanleys insights for yourself here. Which brings me back to the stoned sheep. Kudos to the Telegraph copy desk. Killer headline. But when you read the story you discover that the suspect sheep have actually been roaming the village of Rhydypandy in South Wales for quite some time. Years perhaps. They mightve gotten lost since its Wales and the signs out of Rhydypandy probably say something like Yr Wyddgrug y ffordd hon. For that or perhaps other reasons the sheep are in foul temper. They are getting in peoples gardens and one even entered a bungalow and left a mess in the bedroom moaned County Councillor Ioan Richard. Whence the cannabis? Apparently somebody fly-tipped (illegally dumped) the remains of an illegal grow on the village outskirts. I dread to think what will happen if they eat what could well be cannabis plants Richard warned. We could have an outbreak of psychotic sheep rampaging through the village. Wait a minute. So youre telling me that no sheep in Rhydypandy have consumed cannabis. And youre not even certain its cannabis. It could be a rogue gang of kale for all you know Ioan. Oh youve got a photo? Lets have a look. Image via The Telegraph THATS. NOT. CANNABIS. Come on Ioan. Thats a load of cracked stones mixed with elm prunings. At the end of the day weve got a cranky sheep (singular) pooping in somebodys parlor and a load of harmless junk left by the side of the road. No cannabis. No psychosis. In fact if it had been cannabis Coucillor you might have been better off as the ruminates probably would have enjoyed the leaves and then had themselves a nice long nap. In fact Ill bet thats not even a genuine Rhydypandy sheep. Hang on. (Googling.) Ah. There she is. Getty Images photo taken by Chris Jackson March 11 2010 in Brecon Wales a solid 44 miles north of Rhydypandy. Image via Getty Images Actually Im kind of impressed that you found a Welsh sheep for the image slot Telegraph. Well done. This is where we are in 2016. Local politicians be they from towns large or small are still relying on the boogeyman of cannabis to sow fear among their constituents just as they have for decades. Only now it doesnt work so well. Because we have this thing called the internet which we can use to look up crime statistics scientific research and the Getty Images search engine. So to Police Commissioner Bratton and County Councillor Richard we say: Image via Getty Images by Bruce Barcott at Leafly News amp; Culture