It is the 20th day of the fourth month, but Attorney General Jeff Sessions will never 420 blaze it because he believes, contrary to growing medical and scientific consensus, that marijuana is extraordinarily dangerous.
Why is Jeff Sessions so scared of marijuana? While John Ehrlichman, a former domestic policy adviser to Richard Nixon, admitted that Republicans used the drug war as a tool to criminalize black people and undermine the anti-war movement, Sessions seems to be high on his own supply when it comes to his claims about the perils of weed.
But his dangerous ignorance can be to your benefit. Here are 10 things Jeff Sessions has said about the issue at different moments in his career, all of which are things a marijuana enthusiast would definitely never say, in case anyone asks:
1. “Good people don’t smoke marijuana.”
2. “You can’t have the President of the United States of America talking about marijuana... you are sending a message to young people that there is no danger in this process. It is false that marijuana use doesn’t lead people to more drug use. It is already causing a disturbance in the states that have made it legal.”
3. “I thought those guys [the Ku Klux Klan] were OK until I learned they smoked pot.”
4. “Colorado was one of the leading states that started the movement to suggest that marijuana is not dangerous. And we’re going to find it, in my opinion, ripple throughout the entire American citizenry; and we’re going to see more marijuana use, and it’s not going to be good. We’re going to see more other drug use, illegal drug use, also, which is damaging.”
5. “I mean, we need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized. It ought not to be minimized, that it’s in fact a very real danger. Lives will be impacted. Families will be broken up. Children will be damaged because of the difficulties their parents have, and people may be psychologically impacted the rest of their lives with marijuana.”
6. “I realize this may be an unfashionable belief in a time of growing tolerance of drug use. But too many lives are at stake to worry about being fashionable. I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana – 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.”
7. “When they nominated me for attorney general, you would have thought the biggest issue in America was when I said, ‘I don’t think America’s going to be a better place if they sell marijuana at every corner grocery store....’ (People) didn’t like that; I’m surprised they didn’t like that.”
8. “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.”
9. “This drug is dangerous. You cannot play with it. It’s not funny.”
10. “And I’m not in favor of legalization of marijuana. I think it’s a more dangerous drug than a lot of people realize.”
List your 410 additional favorite Jeff Sessions quotes about marijuana in the comments.