A majority of Americans believe that marijuana should be legal, but the federal government refuses to take action. Instead, they’ve classified marijuana as one of the most dangerous drugs in the country, alongside heroin and LSD. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more.
Transcript:
*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.
Mike Papantonio: A majority of Americans believe that marijuana should be legal, but federal government, well, they refuse to take action. Instead, they’ve classified marijuana as one of the most dangerous drugs in the country alongside heroin. God almighty. I mean, really? Tell that to Willie Nelson. Right. Call Willie Nelson. Did you know how dangerous it is, Willie? Pick it up.
Farron Cousins:: Yeah. This is ridiculous. We’re in the year 2024 now and marijuana is still scheduled as a schedule one drug, meaning the federal government says there are no medicinal values in this at all. It is dangerously addictive. It is deadly. Marijuana will kill you just as quickly as heroin, according to the government. Even though, as far as I have seen, and I’ve researched this a lot, I have not found a single person that has overdosed on marijuana.
Mike Papantonio: Well, full disclosure, I’m in the business in Florida. We have the license, one of the licenses in Florida. We started off with this, doing this, because we found that CBD oil would stop children from having epileptic seizures. So we were approached and they said, well, look, would you invest in this? Can you get it out? Can you talk about the value of CBD? And we did. And all of a sudden it was legalized. We had medical marijuana legalized in Florida. Lot of different reasons because finally scientists were willing to come forward and say, yeah, we’re not, we don’t have all the studies yet. We can’t and I can’t tell you 100% that everything’s okay, to tell you the truth. But I do know that there’s enough history to know that it’s not like heroin.
Farron Cousins: Right.
Mike Papantonio: And so, but this, so you have a government that they won’t change the rules at all. And just, this whole issue remains in limbo. Right. And people in the business have a tough time even staying in the business because the tax rates are so high that companies can’t even keep up with the tax rates. 82% or some ungodly number like that.
Farron Cousins: Right. It is absolutely ridiculous what they’re doing because we don’t have federal action on it. And anytime you don’t have federal action, what happens? Which a great example of that is with Covid. We’d had no federal Covid regulations to get everybody on the same page. So just like with legalization of marijuana, we end up with a patchwork of different states with different rules where it’s legal here, it’s kind of legal here. It’s mostly legal.
Mike Papantonio: We’re gonna look the other way here. But it’s not really.
Farron Cousins: Right. And nobody knows if you’re crossing the border from one state to another, suddenly you could be committing a serious felony.
Mike Papantonio: Oh, it’s a federal. I mean, it’s a federal law that says, yeah, this is a controlled substance and it’s as dangerous as heroin. And if you use it, you have the risk of going to prison. So.
Farron Cousins: And the government says it’s also more dangerous than cocaine and meth.
Mike Papantonio: Yeah. Interesting.
Farron Cousins: And those are schedule two drugs.
Mike Papantonio: Yeah. 70% of the American public supports it. You know, as I look at it, the studies that are coming out, I think are quick. There’s some real signs that this could be a problem. I mean, heart attacks, heart problems. But it’s, at this point, there’s not any empirical data. There’s not epidemiology that says one way or another. But the government, I can tell you, they’re not going to change this law. That’s the DEA. They’re not going to change this law. Really, it helps support the DEA doesn’t it? I mean, it’s kind of.
Farron Cousins: Oh, yeah. It’s their bread and butter. That’s where they get their money. We arrest these people. The private prison industry is fighting to keep it illegal. The pharmaceutical industry is fighting to keep it illegal.
Mike Papantonio: Oh yeah. They’re.
Farron Cousins:: So you’ve got these two billionaire powerhouses that it’s almost impossible to fight against them. And what it’s gonna take is a leader from some party that is not bought and paid for, and cannot be bought and paid for, to make this happen. And I don’t know if we get there in my lifetime. I really don’t.
Mike Papantonio: Oh, you don’t because you’re gonna be so much pushback from the feds. It’s just gonna be, first of all, they’re making, just the tax base on it state to state, these states are making a lot of money on the tax base. But they don’t understand, they’re basically gonna be putting the people who are trying to sell this outta business because you can’t, you simply can’t keep up with the tax responsibilities. But I think the way to look at it is to say, okay, we need some epidemiology. I’m the first to admit, you need to take a closer look and just see what the science really says. Not science that’s been, that’s phonied up. You’re gonna, if I look at any science by the pharmaceutical industry, I always start from the standpoint, yeah, it’s been phonied up. Clinicals have been messed around with. I always start from that position. And when I’m involved in the case, most of the time I’m right. You know.
Farron Cousins: Yeah. And look, we’re talking about the pharmaceutical industry that has a very large body count. And so, take what they say with a grain of salt because we are seeing real results from this. And the public agrees it is time to get out of these dark ages of making this, or classifying it, at least classify it lower on the schedule.
Mike Papantonio: Well, you got alcohol and tobacco, Jesus Christ. I mean, how many people have been killed with that? We just look the other way on that. It just doesn’t make any difference. But I think you have to, at this stage where you have states that are saying, yeah, we’re gonna legalize it. It provides an opportunity and the opportunities to say, let’s study it. Let’s have some serious epidemiologists take a look at it and let’s see where it goes. Right?
Farron Cousins: Yep.
Mike Papantonio: Call it what it is. Like we do. Balls and strikes.
Farron Cousins: Ring of Fire founder and host of America’s Lawyer, Mike Papantonio has a new book came out this week called, “Suspicious Activity.” Like his other books before it, this book actually deals with real legal cases that Mike Papantonio has handled, but in a fictionalized way. The book follows the character of Nick Deketomis that Papantonio first introduced in his book, “Law and Disorder,” and it carries on the story that began in “Law and Disorder” through “Law and Vengeance,” “Law and Addiction,” “Inhuman Trafficking,” and now “Suspicious Activity.” This book, in particular, deals with the financial institutions that have helped launder money for terrorist organizations, which of course is a topic we have covered extensively here on Ring of Fire. So if you’re a follower of Mike Papantonio’s books, or if this is your first one, you can get your copy of “Suspicious Activity” now. Just go to MikePapantonio.com and place your order. And if you haven’t already, check out Mike’s other books, also available on MikePapantonio.com.
