From the Department of You Just Can’t Make This Shit Up:
Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer demonstrated once again that scientific research and actual facts have no place in the White House policy making process. While announcing that the Justice Department would be stepping up the enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states which have legalized its recreational use, Spicer provided the following rationale:
"I think that when you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing that we should be doing is encouraging people. There's still a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to recreational use marijuana and other drugs of that nature,"
At least he refrained from the old, tried and true marijuana as a gateway drug argument. Of course, the idea that people would decide to become opioid addicts because the government doesn’t enforce federal marijuana laws is kind of bizarre. In fact, this perspective seems to be at odds with the views of people who actually know what they are talking about.
"We know why there's an opioid addiction epidemic. ... I don't think there is really debate," said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, co-director of Opioid Policy Research at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
"It's because we have overexposed the population to prescription opioids," he said. "The driver behind that increase in opioid addiction has been an overprescribing of pain medicine, overexposing the population to a highly addictive drug."
Dr. David Fiellin, a professor at the Yale School of Medicine who conducts research on opioid treatment strategies, adds:
To date, however, there is no definitive evidence of an exclusive causal link for marijuana," he said, adding, "Given the overwhelming evidence supporting the biologic basis of substance use and addiction, I would encourage a primary medical response to these challenges and evidence-based legal efforts that support prevention and treatment."
Similarly, there appears to be no definitive evidence that Trump administration policies are based upon reality. As far as I can tell, Spicer was not asked to substantiate his theory, or identify any research that supports it. Given this, I’m sure we will continue to see policies trotted out that appear to serve no purpose other than to make us all more miserable than we already are.