Has Bloomberg Shivved His Presidential Campaign Before It Began?

Only a moron would suggest Mike Bloomberg is a moron.

The man has built a media empire, has amassed a $38 Billion fortune, and by the way, has been a successful Mayor of a little town called New York City.

Rumor has it he's considering a run for President.

Until he said this:

"“We have a different kind of problem in America, for example,” he said. “Last year, in 2017, 72,000 Americans OD’d on drugs. In 2018, more people than that are OD-ing on drugs.”

“And today incidentally, we are trying to legalize another addictive narcotic,” he said, referencing marijuana, “which is perhaps the stupidest thing anybody has ever done. We’ve got to fight that, and that’s another thing that Bloomberg Philanthropies will work on it in public health.”

Mr. Bloomberg undoubtedly knows that north of 93% of Americans support medicinal cannabis. He's been briefed that 30 states have made medicinal cannabis legal, and 10 of those states have also legalized recreational cannabis.

And he's aware that the estimated total market size of the total cannabis industry in the US is $50 Billion, generating hundreds of millions in taxes in support of education and public safety, tens of thousands new jobs, scientific study, industrial innovation, and state health board-recommended medicinal treatments for dozens of the most challenging medical conditions.

And he can probably quote the budget savings of re-positioning police officers away from petty but time consuming cannabis possession busts to more pressing issues like rape and murder.

And he might even agree that the Prohibition of cannabis has been the biggest flim-flam in American history.

Is it addictive? Less than sugar, alcohol and cigarettes, but for less than 10% of people - who may be predisposed to drug use anyway - cannabis can be addictive. BUT BLOOMBERG IS COMPARING IT TO OPIOIDS HERE... um, Mike, better catch up on your reading.

Nevertheless, it's probably better not to jump to conclusions about Mr. Bloomberg's statement. misguided as it seems on its face.

So for the moment, suffice to say We have questions.

IMAGE SOURCE: Marijuana Moment