dr Oz exits reality in an epic anti-weed rage

Imagine if you had the chance to support a policy that 58% of all voters in your state want and only 26% oppose.

Imagine siding behind policies so bipartisan and appealing that they can persuade Trump voters to support your opponent, a full-fledged leftist.

Imagine the opportunity to champion an economic boom that can create countless jobs in your state and stop it from bleeding millions of dollars to your neighbors.

Then imagine you go on TV and you say nahhh fuck all that.

This is exactly the approach that Dr. Mehmet Oz — the reality TV quack turned Pennsylvania MAGA Senate hopeful — lashed out yesterday, May 19, as he hopped onto Newsmax for a big taunt and taunt to cannabis users and the cannabis industry.

The tirade began when host Greg Kelly delivered a short tirade about Lt. Governor John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for Pennsylvania’s open seat in the US Senate, broke loose. The Democrat, Kelly noted in horror, is wearing “hoodies.” He also wears shorts! Aaaand he supports legal marijuana!!

Mehmet Oz says he disagrees with Fetterman’s position that marijuana should be legalized because Pennsylvanians need to get their “mojo” back and get back to work pic.twitter.com/0G7tiMIyYZ

— Aaron Rupar (rupatrupar) May 19, 2022

dr Oz shook his head in disgust before stopping…and delivering the pitch, transcribed here in its full glory:

“There aren’t enough Pennsylvanians to work in Pennsylvania. So giving them pot to stay home I don’t think is an ideal move. Also, I don’t want to create an addiction to marijuana. It’s not a physical addiction, it’s an emotional addiction.

But I don’t want young people to think they have to smoke a joint to get out of the house in the morning. We need to get Pennsylvanians back to work, need to give them their mojo, and I don’t want marijuana to be an obstacle to that.

I also don’t want people operating heavy machinery and driving past me when they’re hitting their fourth joint of the day.”

Folks, I’m too busy today to break down every instance of inaccuracy, condescension and forgetfulness in this stunning monologue. But I know that like me, you have family members and friends who devour this type of rhetoric as if it were Vicodin, and at some point you may actually need to talk to them about it.

So let’s go through a few points:

• Since when does “gifting” weed (wait, it’s free now?) make people stay at home? Guys, pot was shown Helping people focus. Insanely successful athletes use it. Entrepreneurs, visionaries, activists… they all smoke weed!
• What is this emotional addiction you’re talking about, doc? Pot has been shown to help people to deal with stress. There’s a lot of stress out there. Want to make her less stressed? I don’t know, create a plan to help us overcome climate change, income inequality, chronic loneliness, homelessness and more.
• When you say mojo, do you mean…? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it makes people happy.
• Yeah, well… legal weed states don’t allow you to operate heavy machinery when you’re high. Or impaired to any substance. When you can trust that your employees will not be abused and go wild with a forklift, you can expect them to behave accordingly if they have access to legal weed. Cannabis is now legal for all adults in 18 states. We haven’t seen an outburst of stoners hitting front loader jaunts yet.
• Last but not least… find someone who “takes” joints and I’ll share an in-depth story about them. Boy Scout Honor.

At the moment it remains to be seen whether Dr. Oz will even get through in the GOP Senate primary. He is currently in a dead heat with his Republican rival.

But when he actually goes up against Fetterman, expect that topic to come up again — and again and again. And expect Fetterman, one of the loudest pro-legalization voices in politics, to join in.

Because, as Fetterman recognizes, and Oz obviously doesn’t, when you talk about legalization, it’s not just about talking to a left-wing base. It’s about speaking to a massive community of American voters. And it might even win an election.

Max Savage Levenson

Max Savage Levenson probably has the lowest cannabis tolerance of any author on the cannabis beat. He also writes about music for Pitchfork, Bandcamp and other bespectacled people. He is the co-host of the Hash podcast. His dream interview is Tyler the Creator.

Check out Max Savage Levenson’s articles

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