Newsmax is in the news again, though—notably—not for any reasons having to do with actual news, max or otherwise.
Greg Kelly, the host of the conservative outlet’s Greg Kelly Reports show who’s known for vehemently supporting Trump and just as vehemently disparaging dogs, was among those who expressed a tired take on marijuana laws this week in light of word that New York would become the latest state to legalize sales for recreational use.
“Smoking WEED is a big Fat Waste of Time,” Kelly said on Wednesday in a tweet in which New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was tagged.
And while that random capitalizations-filled tweet was enough on its own to spur mockery, Kelly didn’t stop there. In a follow-up tweet, he shared a ludicrous anecdote about having “toked up” with some “buddies” in the state of Kentucky, only to wake up four days later in Kenya.
“I’ve tried it (back in the day) and it was WORSE than anything that happened to HUNTER BIDEN,” Kelly said.
In short, Kelly either got a hold of some impossibly wild weed—weed so good, in fact, that it magically defies all the typical characteristics of weed—or he’s simply blowing smoke in the spirit of dangerously antiquated marijuana fear tactics.
Reached by Complex on Thursday for their take on Kelly’s weed tweet, a spokesperson with NORML—the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws—said these comments only highlight how out of touch Kelly and other marijuana legalization critics are:
“These sort of sensationalist claims are reminiscent of a time when the American public knew little about cannabis and, therefore, such fear-mongering might be taken seriously. But Americans’ understanding of cannabis, and the failures of cannabis prohibition, has evolved greatly over the past century, and today such claims are met with derision and scorn. In an environment where nearly seven out of ten Americans say that cannabis should be legal for adults, and where some 40 percent of the country resides in a jurisdiction where adult-use cannabis sales are legal, these sort of statements simply amplify the fact that those who oppose the rising tide of legalization are both out-of-touch and have no place in the emerging political debate over cannabis policy.”
To further drive home that point, here’s a collection of people dunking on Kelly’s beyond-parody marijuana tale:
