Newscaster Mocked For Promoting Story On Youth Drug Use With Bizarre Teen ‘Bedroom’

Man Honors 9/11 Crews By Pushing Drink Cart From Boston To New York

Girl Meets Gull At New Jersey Amusement Park And Gets Smacked In The Face

A St. Louis newscaster was mocked on Thursday after Twitter users suggested a photo about an upcoming story on teen drug use was staged.

Paige Hulsey, an anchor/reporter at CBS affiliate KMOV, took to social media to promote a story about how a parent can tell if their teenager is doing drugs.

The tweet was accompanied by a photo of what Hulsey suggested was “a normal teen’s bedroom” — and therein lies the rub.

Looks like a normal teen’s bedroom, right? Think again. Coming up on @KMOV, we’ll show you what parents should be looking for so they can identify signs of drug use. I was shocked at what I found in this room!!! #stl #n4tm pic.twitter.com/Df2yegDPUq

— Paige Hulsey (@paigehulsey) June 24, 2021

For various reasons, people were very skeptical that the bedroom belonged to a real teen.

why does this teen live in an office https://t.co/G0cDE0c5Mh

— Mike Murphy (@mcwm) June 24, 2021

Lol they literally took an empty room in the newsplex and styled it into a fake version of what they think a stoner teen’s bedroom looks like https://t.co/nx2NliCss7

— Arielle Castillo (@ariellec) June 24, 2021

yes i’d be very concerned if my teen lived in what is obviously a commercial office space hastily decorated to look like a 45-year-old’s idea of a teenager’s bedroom with subversive elements like tie-dye and Catch-22

— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) June 24, 2021

Also all the bottles scattered around are Coca-Cola products, which makes it look like some fucked attempt at placement advertising, and which is also pretty ironic, CONSIDERING

— Brooke Binkowski (@brooklynmarie) June 24, 2021

I dont think a bong, some bud, and a crunchy sock is all that shocking. I’m more shocked that a teen has dual nightstands…… https://t.co/ILgZmSTWDS

— CHRIS KLEMENS (@ChrisKlemens) June 24, 2021

trying to hide weed from my parents with my mile 420 sign https://t.co/EPca7YdXMr

— Chelsea Cirruzzo (@ChelseaCirruzzo) June 24, 2021

People are talking about the Mile 420 sign, but I think the most disturbing thing we need to discuss here is the plague of teenagers using office-building carpet tile in their bedrooms. https://t.co/PqF04VngAY

— Hank Green (@hankgreen) June 24, 2021

this is a fake room set up to look like a teenagers room and it has the most Hello Fellow Kids energy i’ve ever seen https://t.co/vEHUpz6xnI

— rachel syme (@rachsyme) June 24, 2021

“NO STUDIO LIGHTING AND CAMERAS IN YOUR BEDROOM UNTIL YOU’RE 18, YOUNG LADY” https://t.co/Wy3Oosachx

— Shoshana Weissmann, Sloth Committee Chair 🦥 (@senatorshoshana) June 24, 2021

Others found other problems with the tweet beyond a possibly bogus bedroom.

This framing is so troubling:
-The War on Drugs has ruined lives. DEA tactics should be approached with skepticism
-False equivalence between vaping/weed use (“Mile 420”) & more dangerous drugs
-Perpetuates unrealistic stereotypes about drug use
-No public health experts quoted https://t.co/kpqjO6xheV

— Lauren Caruba (@LaurenCaruba) June 24, 2021

One Twitter user noted the real issue at stake.

If your teen is living in a commercial office space, complete with drop-down ceiling & high-traffic carpeting, you have bigger concerns than whether or not he/she is using so much cannabis that they have turned their bedroom into a dispensary, complete with “Mile 420” sign. https://t.co/BDp6tmLFQ2

— Fr. Robert R. Ballecer, SJ (@padresj) June 24, 2021

Hulsey did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on the tweets.