As Donald Trump’s Presidency trudges along, one former celebrity-turned-politician had some harsh words for 45 about his administration’s proposed crackdown on state’s recreational marijuana laws.
And no, we’re not talking about Arnold Schwarzenegger, or even Ronald Reagan’s ghost for that matter. We’re talking about Jesse “The Body” Ventura, who recently wrote a column for CNBC pile driving the administration’s ideas about cannabis.
Ventura, the former pro-wrestling star turned Minnesota governor, is a vocal proponent cannabis advocate and author of a book titled Jesse Ventura’s Marijuana Manifesto, in which he calls for nationwide legalization and outlines the flaws of prohibition. After Jeff Sessions and Sean Spicer both spoke about enforcing federal cannabis laws in states with legal recreational use, Ventura had one overarching response – “not on my watch.”
“It is completely wrong and unethical — not to mention unconstitutional—to reverse state law just because you feel like it. Shame on President Trump for even considering this.” Ventura wrote.
The former governor continues by detailing Trump’s love affair with privately owned prisons, and how nonviolent drug arrests essentially equate to dollars in the bank for prison profiteers that Trump calls friends.
Ventura also calls out Spicer’s claims that cannabis has added to the nation’s opioid addiction issue.
“If marijuana use did lead to opioid addiction, and that's why we have a national heroin/opioid epidemic—because of legalized marijuana—then why is it that we have more people who use marijuana than we do people who are addicted to opioids?”
While Trump and his team haven’t followed up on the idea of marijuana enforcement since Session’s spoke on it late last month, don’t expect Ventura to stop speaking out against the president’s policies – and don’t say we didn’t warn you when Ventura shows up in the democratic primary in a few years time.
