The head of the Democratic National Convention Debbie Wasserman Schultz revealed in an interview on Wednesday that she is opposed to marijuana legalization because she believes that it would lead to increased drug use.
Ahh, the old and oft-debunked gateway drug theory. It is the sort of thing we often see employed by the GOP, but for the head of the democratic convention to have such outdated beliefs is disturbing, particularly in the context of the interview and the question she was asked as a follow up.
You’re one of a dwindling number of progressive politicians who oppose legalization of even the medical use of marijuana. Where does that come from?
I don’t oppose the use of medical marijuana. I just don’t think we should legalize more mind-altering substances if we want to make it less likely that people travel down the path toward using drugs. We have had a resurgence of drug use instead of a decline. There is a huge heroin epidemic.
Heroin addiction often starts with prescribed painkillers. Pill mills were a problem in Florida, but the state didn’t make prescribing opiates illegal.
There is a difference between opiates and marijuana.
Yeah, Debbie, the difference is that opiates lead to heroin addiction, marijuana does not. In that response, she completely obliterated any sort of legitimacy in her argument.
How did we ever end up with such an ass-backwards leader of the Democratic party? Many are calling for her resignation, and this is just further fuel for the fire.
