Former Trump Cabinet Member Says Marijuana Rescheduling Would Help To ‘Destroy This Country’

Ben Carson, President Donald Trump’s former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), says a move to reschedule marijuana that the administration is actively considering would play into plots to “destroy this country.”

In an interview with Fox Business on Monday, Carson reiterated his opposition to cannabis reform as Trump weighs a proposal to transfer marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Asked why he feels his “caution” against rescheduling could lead the administration to reject the reform, Carson said that “with a lot of things, it’s just a matter of common sense.”

“It’s a matter of putting the facts on the table and then making policy decisions based on what those facts are,” he said, pointing to a study he claims found a “dramatic increase in crime” in neighborhoods with cannabis dispensaries.

“It doesn’t take a great deal of intellect to recognize that when you put these substances into communities and you make them easy to obtain, you get a much worse result,” Carson said. “Also, people say, ‘Well, you know, when I was young, I smoked marijuana. It didn’t cause me to have a lot of problems.’ Recognize that the marijuana of the 60s and 70s was much less potent than the marijuana today.”

“I think what happens is politicians try to please too many areas, and they’re looking at this group of constituents versus that group. They don’t want to make anybody mad, so they try to walk the middle of the line,” he said. “But this is not a middle of the line issue. We’re talking life and death issues. We’re talking dramatic change to quality of life issues for people, and they can find other ways to entertain themselves.”

He went on to say that the “enemies” of the U.S. are “taking advantage” of marijuana reform, pointing to “Chinese cartels” that “come in and do business here.”

“I don’t want to sound too paranoid, but if I were trying to destroy this country, I would love to get a large proportion of the population just asking for the drugs and their check,” Carson said.

A Schedule III designation would not federally legalize cannabis. It would, however, acknowledge that it has medical use and allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to take federal tax deductions they’ve been barred from under an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E. It would also lift certain research barriers that apply to Schedule I drugs.

The Fox Business interview came about a week after the former HUD secretary published an op-ed where he also spoke out against the marijuana rescheduling proposal.

The former Cabinet member’s position is also being promoted eight years after he criticized the impact that criminal drug enforcement has on disadvantaged communities.

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Meanwhile, Trump’s former press secretary Sean Spicer and his long-time advisor Roger Stone recently traded diverging takes on the prospect of the administration moving forward on marijuana rescheduling.

Stone separately made the case for reform in an op-ed for Marijuana Moment last month.

Retired boxer Mike Tyson, meanwhile, recently spoke about the need for federal marijuana rescheduling on a podcast hosted by the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller—saying he’s expecting “good news” on the issue soon.

In June, the retired boxer also took to Fox News and delivered a message to the president, urging him to reschedule, and ultimately legalize, marijuana.

That interview came days after Tyson led a letter alongside other professional athletes and celebrities promoting cannabis reform that was sent to Trump, calling for rescheduling marijuana, expanding clemency and allowing licensed cannabis businesses to access the banking system.

Meanwhile, Trump’s former senior advisor Kellyanne Conway has been the “biggest champion” of marijuana rescheduling within the president’s “inner circle,” a GOP congressman recently told Marijuana Moment.

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.