A recent comment about the dangers of marijuana use in children by the Governor of Nebraska, Pete Ricketts, has received quite a bit of criticism online. Governor Ricketts said, "If you legalize marijuana, you're gonna kill your kids" in a press conference.

Check out the video clip posted by @therecount on Twitter today.

The Nebraska Governor can be heard in the press conference above saying, "So this is a dangerous drug that will impact out kids. If you legalize marijuana, you're gonna kill your kids. That's what the data shows from around the country".

Ricketts is emphasizing the danger of going around regulatory processes that are in place to determine whether drugs are safe and effective. He claims that this is what the data shows from around the country, but Twitter users have been highly critical of Governor Ricketts' statements.

Check out some responses from Twitter below.

There is obviously some satire going on in some of these comments, but others are very serious about their opposition to Ricketts' claims.

Now, I am not going to pretend like I have any knowledge of the data that the Nebraska Governor in referencing in his statement. But, a lot of the responses online were similar to the one from @iamjniles on Twitter below.

There were a lot of people who chimed in from weed-legal states saying that their experience has not been anything like what the Nebraska Governor was describing in the press conference. Often times, these online users cite alcohol as a legal, yet much more dangerous, substance to point out the alleged hypocrisy of the claims that marijuana will kill children.

Of course, the safety of the public, especially children, is of the utmost importance when it comes to legal or illegal substances. While I believe that Ricketts' was really driving to drive the importance of following protocols set in place to decide whether substances are safe or not, I think the internet is outraged because his statements insinuated that marijuana has been a direct result of death in children.

I would like to know what data the Governor was referring to in his statements, as I believe that information would clear a lot of confusion up in relation to what he said in the video. Either way, it is clear that Americans have strong opinions when it comes to the legalization of Marijuana.

The below post from November of 2020 on Twitter by @vocnederland shows how marijuana legalization has progressed in the United States.

According to the above post, 35 states have approved marijuana use in some capacity. The post also notes that according to reports, legal cannabis sales in the United States could reach $37 billion in the next few years.

So no matter your opinion on the substance, one thing is clear. Marijuana and its legalization in America is a conversation that is here to stay.

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