Republican Rep. Nolan West told the Minnesota House on April 25 why marijuana prohibition makes no sense. He ironically cited a few reasons reasons why cannabis is illegal.
“Last year, it killed 480,000 people. Oops, never mind, that was tobacco, sorry. 140,000. Marijuana killed 140,000 people last year. Oh. Alcohol. Sorry. Got my numbers mixed up here. Oh, 500, it's gotta be 500. This is a dangerous illegal substance. We must ban it, we can’t let it be legal. Five hundred people died. Oh, that’s Tylenol. We are talking about substance with no lethality. The time for marijuana prohibition is over. It's been over for some time. The war on drugs was an abject failure.”
Minnesota has never been so close to legalizing marijuana, with both the state Senate and House recently passing two companion cannabis bills. However, not all Minnesotans seem to be pleased about the upcoming reform.
