Monday’s edition of Fox & Friends featured a discussion of cannabis during which hosts and a Florida law enforcement official used superheated, evidence-free rhetoric straight out of the failed “war on drugs” era.
The reason for the segment was a story out of Mulberry, Florida, involving a 12-year-old who handed out THC gummies in a gym class at Mulberry Middle School last Thursday, sending at least five of them to the hospital with symptoms like stomach pain, dizziness, and nausea. According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, the student who passed out the gummies faces seven felony charges for possessing and distributing marijuana.
During the segment on Monday, Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade pivoted from the Florida story to fearmongering about cannabis in general:
NO ONE TALKS ABOUT THIS — THC IS ADDICTING. I KNOW SO MANY PEOPLE, THEY SAY THEY WERE TOLD ONE THING AND THEY END UP GETTING ADDICTED TO IT. THAT IS AN ADDICTING SUBSTANCE. THERE IS A PRICE TO PAY FOR POT.
Sheriff Judd expressed his wholehearted agreement.
THERE ABSOLUTELY IS A PRICE TO PAY FOR POT. YOU KNOW, I SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND A LOT OF IT INVESTIGATING TRAFFICKERS OF DRUGS, AND IT IS NOT A MINOR, NONVIOLENT FELONY. IT IS RUINING FAMILIES AND KILLING PEOPLE EVERY DAY ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND WE STAND HERE IN DENIAL THINKING IT IS NOT A GATEWAY DRUG.
YOU DON’T START ON COCAINE — YOU PROBABLY START WITH MARIJUANA AND IT LEADS TO OTHER THINGS, RIGHT?
asked host Ainsley Earhardt.
THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. AND STILL TODAY WE HAVE A METH PROBLEM ACROSS THIS STATE AND COUNTRY. IF SOMEONE IS IN POSSESSION OF METH, THEY’RE IN POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA BECAUSE IT KINDA CUTS THE EDGE OF THE METH. AND THEN THEY USE THE MARIJUANA AND THE METH AND THEY GO OUT AND KILL THEMSELVES OR OVERDOSE OR KILL SOMEONE ELSE.
Judd replied.
Source:https://internationalhighlife.com
