Republican governor says ‘if you legalise marijuana you’re gonna kill your kids’

Drug Enforcement Administration data says no reported overdoses from the drug

A Republican governor sparked criticism when he claimed that “if you legalise marijuana you’re gonna kill your kids.”

Nebraska’s Pete Ricketts spoke out against the legalization of medical marijuana in his state as Nebraska lawmakers consider approving it.

Officials at the federal government’s Drug Enforcement Administration say that cannabis has never been linked to any fatal overdoses.

“This is a dangerous drug that will impact our kids,” claimed Mr Ricketts.

“If you legalise marijuana, you’re gonna kill your kids. That’s what the data shows from around the country.”

The bill under consideration restricts the use of medical marijuana in the state to oils, pills or tinctures and bans marijuana smoking, even in the patient’s own home.

Mr Ricketts claims that the bill was a “dangerous” attempt to get around federal approval of a drug’s use.

“Big pot, big marijuana is a big industry,” Mr Ricketts added.

“This a big industry that is trying not to be regulated, to go around the regulatory process. And that’s going to put people at risk: when you go around regulations that are designed for the health and safety of our society.”

The governor then cited the cases of two men who died by suicide after consuming edible marijuana and pointed to increased marijuana-related ER visits in California and Colorado after legalisation was passed.

Supporters of legalisation slammed the governor for his comments.

“Governor Ricketts’ comments are so outlandish that they border on pure parody. Upon seeing them, I had to check my calendar to make sure it was still 2021, and not 1950,” said Erik Altieri, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. 

“His claims are not backed up by science or the real-world experience of the over a dozen states which have already legalised marijuana for adult use, they seem to exist only in his troubled imagination.”