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Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska is once again spouting off like an ignorant gasbag in regard to cannabis. But this time he’s criticizing voters in neighboring state South Dakota for legalizing weed on Election Day.
Ricketts — who said last September, “There is no such thing as medical marijuana” — held a press conference on Tuesday where he said Nebraska counties that share borders with South Dakota should be prepared to endure cannabis-created chaos.
“Well, we’ve certainly seen in other states like Colorado when you pass legalization of recreational, as well as medicinal, marijuana that you see an increase in traffic fatalities that are caused by marijuana use,” Ricketts said when asked about South Dakota. “[We also see] an increase in a number of other things such as young people getting a hold of the marijuana.”
Neither Colorado nor any other weed-legal state has reported an increase in auto deaths, let alone whatever Ricketts meant by “young people getting hold of the marijuana.” In fact, multiple research projects have proven just the opposite is true.
Also, the fact he called it “the marijuana” should be proof enough that he doesn’t know what the fuck he is talking about.
But, Ricketts didn’t stop there. “The marijuana has the opportunity to create psychosis in people and that could lead to a number of very bad outcomes as well,” he said, “so those bad health effects happen when you legalize marijuana.”
Here’s how we know Rickett’s doesn’t know what he’s talking about: Scientific literature shows time and time again that weed does not cause psychosis. Further, CBD may be an effective treatment for psychosis.
Cannabis has had a hard row to hoe under Gov. “Full-of-Shit” this past year. In August, weed advocates successfully got a legalization measure on the ballot for the November election. But, despite 77 percent of residents coming out in favor of the initiative, the Nebraska Supreme Court then killed the measure, just two weeks after it technically qualified for the ballot.
In response, cannabis activists in Nebraska started their own political party called the Legal Marijuana Now Party.
It’s an unfortunately necessary move in a state lorded over by a buffoon who piled one anti-weed lie on top of another back in September. “There is no such thing as medical marijuana,” Ricketts said. “This is not something that would be prescribed by a doctor. It’s not going to be distributed through a pharmacy. These are dispensaries that would be in your communities… This is not a benign thing. This is a dangerous thing.”
Additionally, Ricketts claimed that people in weed-legal states “show up to work stoned” and that it “puts them at greater risk for accidents on the job.” Again, those two fallacies have also been disproven by science.
In the meantime, Nebraska residents are stuck with a sad case of the Ricketts until 2023. Just remember Nebraskans: South Dakota is right next door.
