Somewhat remarkable, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said he would decriminalize all drugs, including heroin and meth.
The openly gay, 37-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Ind., appeared Sunday on “Fox News Sunday” to boldly tout his risky plan.
“The main thing we need to focus on is where you have distribution and the kind of harm that’s done there, where yeah, of course, it’s important that it remain illegal but — ” he began saying when asked about legalizing the highly dangerous drugs.
Fox News host Chris Wallace interrupted to tell Buttigieg that he said it should not be illegal.
“Possession,” the Democratic candidate clarified, “should not be dealt with through incarceration.”
The position was so outlandish, the Republican National Committee shared a clip of the segment online:
Pete Buttigieg: decriminalize all drugs, including heroin and methhttps://t.co/E4yzMGybO3 pic.twitter.com/tNTXjQ1vIz
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 9, 2020
To recap, Buttigieg is saying possession of heroin and meth would be legal, but the distribution would not be legal.
Wallace pressed to ensure that Buttigieg was being understood correctly.
“You would say that possession of heroin is not illegal,” the Fox News host said, to make clear.
“Not going to be dealt with through incarceration,” Buttigieg replied, coming up just short on saying it would be legal, but stressing there would be no punitive action that involves jail.
Wallace noted that the candidate’s website says decriminalize it, prompting more doublespeak from Buttigieg.
“Yes,” he answered. “Or it could be a misdemeanor. The point is not the legal niceties, the point is we’ve learned through 40 years of a failed war on drugs that criminalizing addiction doesn’t work.”
“Not only that, the incarceration does more harm than the offense it’s intended to deal with,” he added.
Under criminal justice reform, Buttigieg’s website states: “On the federal level, eliminate incarceration for drug possession, reduce sentences for other drug offenses and apply these reductions retroactively, and legalize marijuana and expunge past convictions.”
Social media users saw the stance as yet another sign of how dismal the 2020 field of Democratic candidates actually is.
Here’s a sampling of responses from Twitter:
— saveourchildren (@wwg1wga50607113) February 9, 2020
And then pay all of these drug addicts to defecate in our parks! pic.twitter.com/UeBt5oM3oE
— Trooh Dhat (@TroohDhat) February 9, 2020
Mayor @PeteButtigieg can’t even run South Bend… now he wants to make these drugs legal?
— Fadeaway Trey Gowdy (@TreyFadeaway) February 9, 2020
No wonder his city is a mess !
— Maria ?? #KAG ?? ⚪️ (@pacsgirl36) February 9, 2020
Yeah let’s make it all legal and free. Then when you need a dentist, a surgeon, first responder, commercial airline pilot, etc. they all can be addicted and stoned out of their minds. Hey Pete be the first one to operated on by a junkie. PLEASE !
— Alan (@fuzzskis1) February 9, 2020
Is he taking money from cartels?
— RiverShark (@CindySaulter2) February 9, 2020
He knows he’s not going to get elected, this cycle he’s just testing the waters for the next. election, he wants to know if society is going to accept him or not.
— Mo Baily (@mededu) February 9, 2020
Ol Pete should come see the area I live by that happened because they stopped criminalizing drugs. It’s a giant camp of walking zombies – who love to steal from and harass the homeowners who were there first. It’s vile and no one does anything about it.
— California girl ☀️☀️☀️ (@chickypoo209) February 9, 2020
The fact that these democrat “leaders” thinks decriminalizing is a good thing is amazing to me. Seattle has become a cesspool of gang activity as a result of decriminalizing. This decision will do nothing except make our cities less safe and disgusting.
— Grimm (@RGrimm26) February 9, 2020
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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