Justice

2 Chainz Debating Nancy Grace Over Marijuana Is the Best Thing You'll Watch Today

January 14th 2015

In case you were wondering who the most alarmist anchor in cable news might be, you need not look much further than Nancy Grace. Her latest debate over marijuana legalization with the rapper 2 Chainz is both factually dubious and full of misdirected outrage.

The HLN host attempts to censure the rapper for his pro-marijuana stance by showing clips of irresponsible mothers giving their young children joints.

“What I’m trying to say to you is, if this is legalized, then everybody is gonna have unlimited access to pot,” she said. “And unlike other people that are responsible, irresponsible child abusers are going to have free access.”

2 Chainz refuted by noting that pot is already widely available, allowing any irresponsible person who truly wishes to obtain it to do so. It makes more sense to legalize it, regulate it, tax it, and educate people about it, he argued, instead of merely sweeping the whole issue under the rug as well as overcrowding our prisons because of it. 

The hip hop artist also noted how alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana.

"It's the same thing we talked about earlier, darling, with the legalization of alcohol," he responded. "You will find some footage like this, but everybody is not [giving it to their kids]. Some people actually love their child. Some people know that it's obviously wrong, so this is nothing to really argue about; these people are obviously imbeciles. You can't use this case to define an entire community."

2 Chainz is referring to the notion that drinking 10 times the recommended serving of alcohol can be fatal, while one would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint to lead to death.

Marijuana poisoning for children under 13—a threat many opposition groups tout—is increasingly rare. Compared to the 254 calls relating to marijuana ingestion in 2012, for example, there were over 4,000 for children who ate birth control pills. Even calls for caterpillar stings were twice as common.

ATTN: recently made a video about the economic benefits of legalized marijuana in Colorado as well. With more than 50 million in tax revenue from recreational marijuana last year, Colorado has already funded statewide substance abuse programs in public schools.

"It is unfortunate that Nancy Grace is content to continue her groundless fear-mongering campaign against the responsible regulation of marijuana," said Erik Altieri, communications director for marijuana-legalization nonprofit NORML in a statement to The Daily Beast. "With her outrageous claims that marijuana legalization in Colorado would set off a statewide crime wave proven false by the fact crime was down across the board in the state in 2014, it seems she is willing to keep tilting at windmills for the sake of ratings rather than simply admit she was wrong. One has to wonder, when it comes to Nancy Grace and her outlandish remarks, is reefer madness to blame?" 

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