On Friday, the Democrat-led House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which—if passed by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden—would decriminalize marijuana, removing it from the federal controlled substance schedule and opening a pathway to expunge federal marijuana convictions dating back to 1971.
Though marijuana decriminalization and legalization enjoys increasingly bipartisan support, House Republicans vigorously opposed the bill in floor debate. Republican Congressman Steven Palazzo of Mississippi said the bill was a "vote to get America high." His Republican colleague, Buddy Carter of Georgia, further promoted the questionable characterization of marijuana as a "gateway drug."
Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin took his conservative colleagues to task during a moment in his floor speech, especially with one incendiary dig.
Watch below.
Raskin: I concede our party is not for the kind of cocaine fueled orgies that a freshman Republican representative bragged about but we do understand that their marijuana prohibition laws don’t work for our people pic.twitter.com/zmisr7V5St
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 1, 2022
He said:
"I concede our party is not for the kind of cocaine-fueled orgies that a freshman Republican representative bragged about this week, but we do understand that their marijuana prohibition laws don’t work for our people."
Raskin was referring to a recent anecdote delivered by far-right Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who suggested on the Warrior Poet Society podcast that Republican members of Congress had invited him to an "orgy" and that some who had worked to reduce addiction in the U.S. did key bumps of cocaine in front of him.
His comments were met with immense backlash from fellow House Republicans, some of whom urged him to name the representatives in order not to characterize the whole party. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy sat down in private to reprimand Cawthorn, whom he said admitted the claims were "exaggerated/untrue," according to CNN reporter Melanie Zanona. Conservative provocateur and convicted felon Roger Stone said that Cawthorn denied that ever conceded the claims were untrue.
Social media users cheered Raskin's expert trolling.
Gonna need some burn ointment here. https://t.co/qachwIo8kJ
— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) April 1, 2022
Zing! https://t.co/YExUj2P8Z7
— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) April 1, 2022
He went there and it’s glorious and perfectly said https://t.co/gSLVwig6EU
— Pete Dominick (@PeteDominick) April 1, 2022
I love Jamie Raskin 🤣💯 pic.twitter.com/Ep4NUKVmcw
— Wu-Tang Is For The Children (@WUTangKids) April 1, 2022
Jamie Raskin puts cocaine fueled sex orgies into the official record 🤣💀
pic.twitter.com/5clXKftPHW
— Tony Michaels 🎙 (@thetonymichaels) April 1, 2022
Oh my. 😂 https://t.co/nEotLrUiZM
— 🌻 Kaz Weida 🌻 (@kazweida) April 1, 2022
But Raskin wasn't the only one to call out the GOP's opposition to federal marijuana reform.
If the GOP logic to keep Marijuana illegal is that it's too dangerous—despite 0 Marijuana overdose deaths, ever—then I can't wait to see the GOP bill to ban alcohol, which kills 95,000 Americans annually at a cost of $249B.
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) April 1, 2022
Every GOP rep who voted against marijuana decriminalization who represent states where it is 100% legal need to answer for this vote. (They won't.)
— Pé🌻 (@4everNeverTrump) April 1, 2022
The votes on insulin and marijuana is more proof the GOP is owned by corporations they do not care about people.
— CJ Voss (@voss_cj) April 1, 2022
Only three Republicans—Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Brian Matz of Florida, and Tom McClintock of California—voted in favor of the legislation.
