Trump's Attorney General William Barr Accuses Biden-Harris Admin Of Politicizing Cannabis Legalization, 'Ignoring Legal Standards, Scientific Evidence'

Donald Trump's former Attorney General William Barr came out swinging in an Op-Ed against legalizing marijuana, accusing the Biden-Harris administration of being inspired by politics rather than science in its as-yet unfulfilled decision to reschedule cannabis.

"We hear a lot from the current administration about the ‘rule of law,'" wrote Barr in a Fox News opinion piece. "But by ignoring legal standards and scientific evidence in its rush to loosen restrictions on marijuana, the Biden-Harris administration is riding roughshod over the rule of law and playing fast and loose with the health and safety of the American people — all for political gain."

Politicize Cannabis As Elections Loom? Who Would Do Such A Thing?

While casting some serious aspersions on cannabis reform, Barr did not mention his former boss Donald Trump. In case you missed it, over Labor Day weekend Trump came out in support of Florida's cannabis legalization initiative, known as Amendment 3.

Meanwhile, Barr continued his opinion piece, which had more than its share of questionable data. "The data continues to give the lie to the cannabis industry's portrayal of marijuana as a harmless, feel-good drug. Marijuana is highly addictive: One-third of people who used marijuana in the past year met the criteria for addiction, and half of daily users become dependent on the drug."

Read Also: Trump’s Former AG Bill Barr Backs Prohibitionist Group Urging DEA To Delay Marijuana Rescheduling

And Then He Went There: The Children

Naming the "wide-ranging negative effects on mental and physical health," including psychosis, schizophrenia, paranoia, suicide, etc., he transitioned into a heart-rending plea to protect American citizens but “especially American children.” He went on: "Marijuana is particularly harmful to children and teenagers, among whom the drug has become increasingly popular."

Actually, U.S. government survey data released at the end of July by the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that state-specific marijuana legalization laws have not negatively impacted teen cannabis use. In fact, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that teenagers are far less likely to report consuming cannabis today than they were nearly a decade ago.

• Get Benzinga’s exclusive analysis and top news about the cannabis industry and markets daily in your inbox for free. Subscribe to our newsletter here. If you’re serious about the business, you can’t afford to miss out.

Next Up: Gateway Drug Theory

Before he ended his screed, Barr repeated another disproven misconception about marijuana: the gateway drug theory.

“Not all marijuana users go on to use harder drugs, but the vast majority of people who use harder drugs started with marijuana,” Barr wrote. “It is grossly irresponsible to facilitate the use of a gateway drug at a time when more than 100,000 Americans are dying of drug overdoses each year."

Connecting cannabis to the opioid crisis gripping the nation may have been a stretch, but free speech and all.

Now Read:

• Robert Kennedy Jr. Says VP Harris Flip-Flopped On Cannabis And Can’t ‘Put Together An English Sentence’

Photo from Office of Public Affairs on Wikimedia Commons