Earlier this week, outrage was sparked after two members of One Direction were shown on video smoking marijuana while on tour in Peru and British newspaper The Guardian has now shared an editorial piece aboutt the scandal, which explains that it may not be a career-ruining situation for them.

The Guardian's Owen Jones published an article on the scandal and suggested that it may not be as detrimental to the group as initially expected because the members' adventures with marijuana might give them new credibility. In the article, he explains:

"Not to upset One Direction fans, but both they and the band will age. One in five young people admit to dabbling with cannabis in the last year. Our absurd drug laws allow endless consumption of alcohol, a far more damaging drug, and yet treat young people inhaling a bit of weed as criminals. The young pin-ups' clean-cut image will not always be as lucrative."

"As branding experts are already suggesting, this "scandal" could help them, giving them a new credibility. In any case, young people in the media either appear as the asbo "broken Britain" generation, or the sanitised near-saints of young pop stars. Most young people are neither – and any puncturing of both expectations is no bad thing."

The 'Story Of My Life' superstars have already received support and have been defended by the likes of Professor Green, rapper Snoop Dogg, and now Piers Morgan has called for the public to not be so critical of them: "This @onedirection bashing's over-the-top. Two of them made a silly mistake. But from my experience, they're a good bunch of lads."

Watch the much talked about video below: