Jeff Sessions: Marijuana is “only slightly less awful” than Heroin

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on March 21, 2017.

In his ongoing war against marijuana, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions made the curious claim that marijuana is "only slightly less awful" than the heroin crisis in the country while speaking to a group of law enforcement officials in Richmond, Virginia on Wednesday.

"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", Sessions said. “Our nation needs to say clearly once again that using drugs will destroy your life.”

Sessions reiterated some of the points he made during a speech at the National Association of Attorneys General’s winter meeting address in February where he expressed doubt that we would be "a better, healthier nation if we have marijuana being sold at every corner grocery store."

The Attorney General also suggested that marijuana is a gateway drug that is helping to fuel the opioid addiction crisis in the country.  "We have too much tolerance for drug use psychologically, politically, morally. We need to say, as Nancy Reagan said, 'Just say no. Don't do it’. There's no excuse for this. It's not recreational. It can be destructive and it consistently is destructive. Lives are at stake and we're not going to worry about being fashionable," he said.

However, in the same speech, Session said that Obama-era policies led some states to legalize marijuana is ‘valid’ suggesting that he might not be prepping for a nationwide crackdown on marijuana shops or dispensaries as previously believed.

Sessions has not been a fan of marijuana. Last year, he had stated that “good people don’t smoke marijuana.”

In the U.S., medical marijuana is legal in 28 states and D.C., while eight states and Washington D.C. have legally allowed marijuana for recreational purpose.

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