Jeff Sessions Says Marijuana Is "Only Slightly Less Awful" Than Heroin

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made it abundantly clear that he does not support recreational marijuana, and his criticisms have also proved how uninformed he is about its medicinal properties. As a senator, Sessions once argued that "good people don't smoke marijuana." In a speech to law enforcement officers in Richmond, VA, on March 15, the now-Attorney General reiterated many of his misguided opinions about weed, crime, and the opiate epidemic.

Sessions opened the speech by expressing his concerns about the spike in violent crime, likening the present situation to the trend which marred the 1970s. "We do not want to go back to those days," Sessions told the audience. "We must act decisively at all levels — federal, state, and local — to reverse this rise in violent crime and keep our people safe."

In addition to expanding federal and state law enforcement agencies' capabilities, Sessions indicated the Justice Department will go after drugs as an avenue for curtailing violent crime. "To turn back this rising tide of violent crime, we need to confront the heroin and opioid crisis in our nation," Sessions stressed.

Sessions seems to believe that targeting recreational weed is not only a efficient use of resources but vital to fighting the opiate crisis. "I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store," Sessions said. He also referred to the fact that marijuana proponents have argued that legalizing the drug could actually help alleviate the opiate epidemic, saying, "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."

While reducing violent crime is unquestionably a worthy goal, statistics bear proof that preventing people from using weed is unlikely to diminish it. Finally, there is simply no documented connection between a rise in violent crime and legalized recreational marijuana. In fact, in Colorado, where recreational weed has been legal for three years, violent crime rates have dropped by 2.2 percent.

One thing is certain: increased legalization of weed would dramatically minimize the number of prisoners in the United States' already overcrowded prions and provide millions of dollars in taxes to federal and state governments.