Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III says weed is ‘only slightly less awful’ than heroin
U.S. Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III reiterated the fact that he’s coming for your weed, legal or otherwise, during a speech on violent crime delivered to “federal, state, and local law enforcement” in Richmond, Virginia Wednesday. While encouraging authorities to tell people the supposed “terrible truth” about recreation pot smoking, Sessions, who fully admits that his views are “unfashionable,” espoused his beliefs about marijuana use that simply aren’t true.
“I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana,” said Sessions, “so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful. Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.”
Smoking an occasional joint and polishing off a bag of Doritos while watching “Dr. Who” is a “life-wrecking dependency”? Whatever you say, dude. As Rolling Stone pointed out, medicinal marijuana has proven an effective aid for helping addicts withdrawal from opioids. In fact, medical pot has reduced deaths from opioid overdose. Instead of causing a “life-wrecking dependency” it sounds like weed is actually saving lives.
Sessions then alluded to Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign and the D.A.R.E program as effective deterrents to a life ruined by substance abuse.
In the ’80s and ’90s, we saw how campaigns stressing prevention brought down drug use and addiction. We can do this again. Educating people and telling them the terrible truth about drugs and addiction will result in better choices. We can reduce the use of drugs, save lives and turn back the surge in crime that inevitably follows in the wake of increased drug abuse.
The “Just Say No” campaign was widely considered an ineffective joke that attempted to solve a complex structural, health, and economic problem with a slogan. Social scientists and addiction researchers alike agree that both programs were useless. Sessions apparently can’t bother with novel things like research and evidence when he’s on a crusade to lock more people up in private prisons.