For a politician with his eyes on a higher prize, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sure seemed shortsighted the other day when he took to social media in defense of the indefensible — a University of Colorado regent rightly rebuked by her peers for her abuse of office.

Readers might recall the CU Board of Regents recently voted 7-1 to censure first-term board member Wanda James, a Democrat who represents Denver’s 1st Congressional District. James, arguably the state’s most politically ambitious pot dealer, has behaved at times as if she represents the marijuana industry rather than her district — and it finally backfired on her.

The owner of a Denver marijuana retail outlet, James unconscionably attempted this year to squelch a public health campaign alerting parents to the perils her products pose to youth.

She publicly claimed, preposterously, the campaign was racist and denounced it as “recycled junk science” — never mind its author was no less than the Colorado School of Public Health. She even tried to use her political connections to defund the campaign.

Fed up, her fellow regents in both parties censured her for misuse of her public office in her bid to undermine the highly regarded campaign. She had groundlessly smeared the best science on the subject — authored by her institution, the state’s flagship of higher learning.

Although her political posse unsurprisingly has rallied around her, more prominent Democrats for the most part seem to have kept their distance. They likely view her as a liability given her penchant for over-the-top rhetoric and by-now-routine cries of racism whenever something displeases her. She has become an embarrassment, in other words.

Yet, inexplicably, the usually temperate Weiser blundered into the fray Sunday with a thread of posts on X denouncing the regents’ censure and urging the board “to reconsider its action” in order “to protect the right of free expression and the fair treatment of CU Regent James.”

One of Weiser’s posts obliviously sermonizes, “A lesson from this episode is that conflicts should be addressed through a commitment to deescalating rhetoric, elevating listening, and working to find a mutual understanding.”

Filter out the Boulder-ese, and it’s as if he were scolding squabbling kids in the back seat of the car.

Needless to say, James’ outrageous behavior warrants a more serious response. You’d think that would be self-evident to an attorney general who is a former CU law professor and current gubernatorial hopeful.

As detailed by Gazette investigative columnist Jimmy Sengenberger in his months of coverage of this saga, James shamelessly attempted to sabotage an urgently needed public health campaign — one that could cut into her cynical industry’s profits. It’s a glaring and odious conflict of interest.

As Sengenberger noted Wednesday on this latest development, “It doesn’t take a law professor to recognize James’ actions for what they were: Self-dealing disguised as social justice and antiracism. Yet Weiser chose to publicly scold the regents — his own clients — for doing their job.”

What’s even more repugnant is that James would play politics with such a serious issue. We’ll say it again: No one — least of all, an elected official — can afford to be cavalier about the devastating impact of today’s high-potency THC on our youth. It is destroying young lives.

The Colorado School of Public Health deserves the highest praise for bringing that grim truth to the public’s attention.

And the CU Board of Regents merits a standing ovation for calling out a denier who is one of its own.

Meanwhile, Weiser ought to take a break from social media — and perhaps elevate his own listening.