(Video: Fox News)
Greg Gutfeld got into it with Jesse Watters on Thursday, as the two Fox News hosts presented opposite sides of the drug legalization argument.
In a heated exchange on Fox News’s “The Five” that left panel member Jeanine Pirro rolling her eyes, Gutfeld made a passionate case for the legalization of drugs in the wake of Oregon’s decriminalization of nearly all drugs in small amounts.
While the liberal state had hoped that by decriminalizing drugs and removing the fear of jail time, more addicts would seek help, as BizPac Review reported earlier this month, the move only resulted in a surge in fatal overdoses.
After the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act went into effect in Oregon in February 2021, drug addictions reportedly went up by as much as 700%, with a 120% increase in deaths. Meanwhile, very few Oregonians are seeking treatment.
According to Gutfeld, the problem isn’t Oregon’s lax drug policies, it’s the quality of the drugs being used that are causing the explosion of deaths.
“This is what happens when drugs are illegal,” Gutfeld stated, adding that street drugs are not the same as those that are medically prescribed.
“All of these poisonings are street concoctions,” he said. “We always just say, ‘Oh, it’s opiates.’ But it’s actually a toxic poison, it’s street fentanyl. This is not prescription stuff.”
“So if you loosened the restrictions on prescription [drugs],” the co-host argued, “you will save lives.”
Overdoses went through the roof after Oregon voted to decriminalize all drugs https://t.co/7i8UIEiwDa pic.twitter.com/ddPzh0xjZO
— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) June 4, 2022
Watters wasted no time dismissing Gutfeld’s claims.
“I am not buying this libertarian mumbo-jumbo,” he stated.
“This is a perfect example of libertarianism gone wrong,” Watters countered. “Greg has been singing the song ever since I came on ‘The Five.’ ‘Legalize drugs, legalize drugs, decriminalize it.'”
“They did it,” he continued. “Oregon listened to Gutfeld. Now, look at Oregon. Everyone’s dead.”
“That’s what happens when you listen to Greg,” Watters quipped. “You die.”
Gutfeld remained undeterred.
“What I’m saying is, if somebody’s actually using a safe drug, this doesn’t happen,” he said.
The outspoken Pirro’s eyes nearly rolled out of their sockets.
“Is heroin a safe drug?” she asked.
“People actually take heroin, yes,” Gutfeld replied. “Do you know that fentanyl is actually a drug that is prescribed? Are you aware of that?”
“Did you know that you’re wrong?” Watters shot back.
In fact, according to Web MD, fentanyl is used “to help relieve sudden (breakthrough) pain in people who are already taking opioid medication around-the-clock for cancer pain.”
When asked about the safety of meth, Gutfeld pointed to Adderall and Ritalin.
“Those are prescription amphetamines,” he stated.
Again, according to Web MD, Gutfeld is correct.
Adderall, also known as “amphetamine/dextroamphetamine,” the website says, “belongs to a class of drugs known as stimulants.”
“It can help increase your ability to pay attention, stay focused on an activity, and control behavior problems,” Web MD continues. “It may also help you to organize your tasks and improve listening skills. This drug is also used to treat a certain sleeping disorder (narcolepsy) to help you stay awake during the day.”
“If you do what Greg says, you don’t get the crap from China,” offered Dana Perino.
Still, Pirro’s eyes rolled.
“Just buy it on the street corner in Harlem,” she said. “You’ll be fine.”
“That’s what I’m saying!” Gutfeld exclaimed. “They die!”
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13 thoughts on “Gutfeld and Watters butt heads in passionate clash over drug legalization”
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Great, individuals are overdosing on legalized drugs. That just demonstrates problem drug can become self limiting. No more users, no more problem.
People are missing Greg’s point. Doctors are now afraid to prescribe any opioids for pain, and people who legitimately need pain meds sre buying street drugs instead.
No. Drug dealers arent killing off their own customers.. They are dying because they are overdosing. The more you use the more you need. If they were dying from something else, Narcan wouldnt work.. and it does.
i usually agree with greg, but after seeing what legalizing drugs in oregon has done to the state you can’t consider the legalization imo.
Drugs are the worst scourge ever perpetrated on mankind and they are bringing our society down with all the costs and collateral human costs. We have become a very sick society where every kind of destructive or abnormal behavior is legalized. Drug users should be punished as much as those who sell it – without demand there would be no cartels. Problem is, we are punishing people less and less for illegal behavior.
They are both right….but legalization or criminalization is not the issue. The real question is why so many need to take them in this society. Drug cartels go away when there is no market for their drugs.
Don’t look at what actually HAPPENS (when Liberal policies blow up in their faces), just listen to their hypothetical assertions!
Mr. Gutfeld gets so wrapped up in his own rhetoric that occasionally his brain goes on temporary strike. He is/was totally wrong about legalizing ‘street drugs’. That plan has never nor will it ever work out! He was rightly called out by Jesse Watters and others.
Didn’t know Gutfeld was a salesman for big Pharma. Interesting.
Libertarian and conservative views. Pick a side and move on…
Legalize them all and let nature take its course. We don’t need these people in the gene pool.
I vote no on all recreational drugs. Only use drugs you need to help with a condition you have and should be prescribed by a physician or psychiatrist, if not over the counter. Legalizing all these drugs simply gives some weak minded individuals a reason to use them, thus more over doses.
There is no GOOD drugs no matter what their quality when used as recreational drugs. Recreational drugs should be illegal in every state. The only people who use or need drugs are weak minded morons who can’t deal with reality out side medical conditions.