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Mehmet Oz, best known for giving unsolicited ‘alternative’ medical advice to people watching daytime television, has allegedly changed his thoughts towards cannabis and legalization, Insider reports.
While talking to Newsmax host Greg Kelly in an on-camera interview, the one-time TV host turned politician said, “There are not enough Pennsylvanians to work in Pennsylvania, so giving them pot so they stay home is not, I don’t think, an ideal move.”
His concerns over whether Americans are willing to return to work aren’t completely unfounded; recent figures show that nine in ten remote workers want to remain working from home, at least to some degree. While the pandemic continues to affect trends, cannabis has less to do with shaping our workforce than the “job quality shortage,” reported by CNN.
In the past, Dr. Oz himself has praised medical cannabis for its ability to end America’s dependence on opioids. In a clip that aired live on Fox & Friends, Oz had a unique point of view that might have shocked his right-leaning audience stating, “People say marijuana is a gateway drug to narcotics; it may be the exit drug to get us out of the narcotic epidemic. We’re not allowed to study it because it’s a Schedule 1 drug,” Oz continued. “And I personally believe it could help.”
This isn’t the first time celebrities have used their platform to market their own brand of pseudoscience (*cough* Oprah), while (probably) consuming everyone’s favorite plant in secret. While Oz worries about Pennsylvania’s non-existent worker ‘shortage’ to rile up his followers, states that have legalized cannabis have experienced lower unemployment rates.
While Oz is following the proverbial “yellow brick road” towards his seat in the Pennsylvania Senate race, cannabis may be the reason the celebrity heart surgeon will end up taking the L.
