Lubbock's Out-of-Touch Rep. Jodey Arrington Votes Against Pot

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I just don't know how Representative Jodey Arrington could be more out of touch.

Sure, he may be playing to his base, but currently, 68 percent of Americans are for the flat-out legalization of marijuana. Rep. Arrington, however, wants you to flat-out know that he voted against the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act. He said as much in a recent press release, which I'll bring you portions of.

Here's a quote where he uses a strawman tactic of 'hey, look over there' instead of dealing with the issue head-on:

“While millions of Americans have lost their jobs and are wondering how they are going to feed their families, Democrat Leadership is prioritizing legalizing pot and using taxpayer dollars to sell it."

Apparently, this haircut of a legislator gets all of his info from watching Reefer Madness, because he goes on to say:

“We should be providing temporary assistance to struggling families and small businesses not paying felony drug dealers to start pot shops in our neighborhoods across the country."

And the hoo-ha continues:

“Suicides, depression, and substance abuse are spiking and Democrat Leadership seems more concerned with opening the door for illicit narcotics to flood our communities than reopening our country’s schools and small businesses".

Okay, where to start. How about this?

Rep. Arrington doesn't care if you get locked up for a small amount of pot. Rep. Arrington doesn't care about the West Texas farmer and potential cash crops. Rep. Arrington doesn't care about improving the West Texas economy. And most of all, Rep. Arrington is trying to get the church folks stirred up, even though they've been known to smoke a bowl behind the church. Rep. Arrington is also apparently incapable of working on more than one issue at a time.

I'll be the first to say that my claims are a bit outlandish, but that's certainly the inverse of what he thinks you want to hear from him. Worst of all is for Rep. Arrington to conflate suicide and depression with substance abuse, because they do not always go hand-in-hand. That quote deserves an apology to those of us who have suffered depression or lived through the hell of a loved one's suicide.

It's time to support legislators that don't want you in jail. Please remember this nonsense the next time we vote.