Bill Nye Likes Legalization, But Not Marijuana

Cannabis is not for everyone the same way any recreational or medical drug is not for everyone, and though Bill Nye does not consume cannabis himself he does support it's legalization. Living in Washington State since they legalized recreational marijuana 2012, Bill Nye saw first hand the benefit legalization has. Taxing the plant helps regulate the industry and bring in revenue for the state, and taking law enforcement efforst away from simple possessions allows them to focus on more serious crimes. Nye also outlined one of the core problems with cannabis today, that we need more research, but that research is nearly impossible to conduct due to it's Schedule 1 classification.

“I lived in Washington State for a long time, and Washington State legalized it in 2012. We legalized marijuana, we tax it,” Bill Nye said in a interview published this week by NowThis. “We have a lot of tax revenue. It’s no longer criminalized. We don’t spend money on the police department. We spend money regulating the industry in the same way we regulate other substances.”

“What’s happened with marijuana is it’s a Schedule I drug, which means it’s presumed to be addictive and it’s presumed to have no medical value. Yet people are using it for all these medical applications,” he said. “So well, let’s study it. Well, you’re not allowed to study it because it’s a Schedule I drug… So that has to be sorted out.”