minnpot.jpg

Rep. Carly Melin, the chief sponsor in the House of a medical marijuana bill, talks with colleagues on the opening day of the 2014 legislative session Tuesday, Feb, 25, 2014, in St. Paul, Minn. The bill is expected to be debated this session.

(AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Glen Stubbe)

The police chief of Annapolis, Md., this week warned Maryland lawmakers against legalizing marijuana. To make his case, he cited an alarming statistic: More than 30 people fatally overdosed from on the first day the drug was legalized in Colorado.

But that shocking figure was wrong. Michael Pristoop, the Annapolis police chief, had relied on a hoax report, which reported the fake stat and quoted a doctor describing the scene at a Denver hospital as "complete chaos" on Colorado's first day of legal pot, The Baltimore Sun's

reports. One lawmaker called out Pristoop on his error,

.

The

goes onto say that one of the victims was

, described as a former Albuquerque meth dealer who moved to Colorado to open a marijuana dispensary. (Pinkman, many readers know, is a main character in the AMC series, "Breaking Bad.")

The same website also has fake articles with headlines like: Obama nominates Oprah as ambassador to Russia; Court orders Justin Bieber to stop making music; and Obamacare death panel orders first execution.

Pristoop quoted the figure from the fake article in testimony before the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee. He issued an apology after learning the data was wrong.

"I apologize for the information I provided concerning the deaths. I believed the information I obtained was accurate but I now know the story is nothing more than an urban legend," the chief said in a statement. "This does not take away from the other facts presented in opposition to legalization or the good work of the Maryland Chiefs and Maryland Sheriffs associations."

Pristoop was speaking before the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee, opposing the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, according to the statement from Annapolis police. His testimony was stopped by those on the committee who recognized the error.

According to the statement from the police department, Pristoop discovered the data was "an urban myth" while following up on the report after the meeting.

.

And in Oregon,

reports that medical marijuana outlets are

.

-- Noelle Crombie