Department of Homeland Security Secretary and Donald Trump appointee John Kelly appeared on Meet the Press Sunday morning and told host Chuck Todd that marijuana was “not a factor” in the war on drugs.
Kelly discussed North Korea, immigration enforcement, Mexico, and was touching on the war on drugs when Todd went out on a limb and asked the DHS Secretary whether legalizing cannabis stateside would help or hurt his work at the border.
"Yeah, marijuana is not a factor in the drug war," Kelly responded.
The Secretary continued by adding, "It's three things; methamphetamine: almost all produced in Mexico, heroin: virtually all produced in Mexico, and cocaine that comes up from further south."
Kelly’s comments are in stark contrast to the opinions of other Trump administration insiders like Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who just last month compared cannabis to heroin.
In addition to deeming marijuana harmless, Kelly continued his anti-drug war sentiments when he discussed the widespread arrest of nonviolent drug offenders.
“The solution is not arresting a lot of users," Kelly said. "The solution is a comprehensive drug demand reduction program in the United States that involves every man and woman of goodwill. And then rehabilitation. And then law enforcement. And then getting at the poppy fields and the coca fields in the South."
Kelly didn’t exactly ask for nationwide marijuana legalization, but anyone in the the Trump administration speaking about rehabilitation before law enforcement with regards to the war on drugs is an improvement worth noting.
