An autopsy on Michael Brown's body conducted by the St. Louis County medical examiner's office found that the slain teen had marijuana in his system at the time of his death, the Washington Post reports.

Unfortunately, this information will likely be used in some corners of the media to paint Brown as a "thug," just like it was for Trayvon Martin, with the implication that somehow his killing was justified.

It wasn't, of course, but that won't stop people from talking about whether or not it was. Brown, the talking heads will say without saying, was the kind of black kid who did drugs, who stole Swishers and smoked weed—not the college-bound sweetheart friends and family have described.

But so what if he smoked weed? So what if that is him in the grainy surveillance footage, "strong-arming" a cashier for a box of cigars? Who cares whether or not he was going to college? (He was.) The idea that any of those things gave Darren Wilson the right to unload six rounds into an unarmed teenager is both racist and completely insane. (Can you imagine Fox asking about Brown's enrollment status if he was a smiling white pothead in a Zeppelin t-shirt instead?)

It's also possible that the information will be used to argue that Brown was in some kind of reefer-fueled rage when he was killed. THC stays in the bloodstream for weeks after a person partakes, however, and we don't yet know how much was in Brown's. Besides, as anyone who has ever smoked knows, weed isn't exactly known for making people angry.

Protesters in Ferguson, the Post notes, are asking that Wilson also be drug-tested:

In anticipation that Brown could be vilified by the results of the drug test, conducted as a routine part of the autopsy, protesters have consistently insisted that Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, should be required to submit to one as well.

"What was in the system of that cop when he was pumping bullets into that boy's body?" asked a protest leader, shouting into a megaphone, during a rally on Friday afternoon.

Given that Wilson is the killer and Brown the victim, that sounds appropriate.

[Image via AP]