Dr. Oz took on medical marijuana “hypocrisy” while he was on Fox & Friends recently to talk about his exclusive interview with Ivanka Trump about postpartum depression. He said medical pot could be one way out of the opioid abuse crisis.
Mehmet Cengiz Öz, better known as TV host Dr. Oz, added a surprise twist to the Fox News show toward the end Tuesday by veering into a discussion of the nation’s opioid epidemic. His opinion on its solution raised eyebrows.
“Can I ask you one thing?” Oz interrupted on show host Steve Doocy. “I talked about the opioid epidemic, but the real story is the hypocrisy around medical marijuana.”
Doocy seemed perturbed and eager to wrap things up, but that didn’t stop the famous guru-like physician from continuing his medical marijuana point.
"People think it's a gateway drug to narcotics. It may be the exit drug to get us out of the narcotic epidemic," Oz said. "We're not allowed to study it because it's a Schedule I drug, and I personally believe it could help.”
Doocy’s reaction to Oz’s pot passion probably related to his own previous public remarks on cannabis use.
In late 2012, after Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana use, Doocy said on Fox & Friends:
“What’s to keep somebody from getting all potted up on weed and then getting behind the wheel?”
The comment gained popularity and now Doocy is said to be known for playfully mocking marijuana smokers as, “all potted up.”
Though many states have legalized recreational and/or medical marijuana, federal law still bans pot. The murky confluence of the contradiction hasn’t been clarified.
At present, Schedule 1 (the most restrictive category) of the Controlled Substance Act is reserved for drugs with no medical value, with Heroin and LSD listed as Schedule 1 alongside marijuana. As reported by Forbes.com last week, California lawmakers passed a joint resolution urging the federal government to reschedule marijuana. A statement in the resolution said:
"The Legislature urges the Congress of the United States to pass a law to reschedule marijuana or cannabis and its derivatives from a Schedule I drug to an alternative schedule, therefore allowing the legal research and development of marijuana or cannabis for medical use," per Forbes.com.
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