 Joe Biden and others thinking that weed is this spooky gateway drug is just as ridiculous as the people who still believe the debunked science that vaccines lead to autism. What's up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel, my channel is all about mental health, addiction, recovery, education, and all that good stuff. So if you're into that, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And if you're not yet, follow me over on Instagram and Twitter at the Rewired Soul. Alright? So yeah, I was just scrolling through the internet yesterday and I saw this story blowing up, just exploding. Alright? That former vice president and current 2020 Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, was saying that he won't legalize weed because it's a gateway drug. Alright? And I'm just like, oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Alright? So a little background on myself. I am a former drug addict. I'm in recovery. I'm in long term recovery. I celebrated seven years of sobriety on June 23rd, 2012. Alright? Like I have a bunch of videos on my channel about my story and everything like that. But basically I started off with alcohol then I found my new love which was prescription opioids but I pretty much tried any drug out there to see what can get me out of my crazy brain for a little bit. But I'm also a certified life coach and I worked at a drug and alcohol treatment center for a little over three years and I ran groups and did one-on-one sessions and things like that. But a lot of my groups were about education, about addiction and drugs and all that kind of stuff. Alright? So let's talk, okay? So my experience and the experience of many, many other drug addicts, I've worked with literally thousands of them. Like my gateway was not weed even though that was the first drug I tried. My gateway drug was my mental illness, okay? So for most people the number one risk factor for addiction is untreated and undiagnosed mental health issues. Alright? So during my high school years I started developing symptoms of depression and anxiety and I started self-medicating with alcohol at the end of my senior year which then turned into my drug abuse. Alright? Like I tested out weed. I made a whole video about why I don't currently smoke weed the other day. But anyways, like even though I can't drink, I can't smoke, I can't, you know, take certain prescription medications, like I try to put the truth out there because like for example just because I can't drink alcohol I don't think alcohol should be illegal. Okay? That'd be like somebody with a peanut allergy saying that peanuts should be illegal. You know what I'm saying? So, so I'm not about that life. So anyways, one of the biggest problems is that addiction especially right now addiction is a very real issue but when you have people like Joe Biden who are still fear mongering, marijuana, the least dangerous drug out there, we are completely missing the real issues. Alright? So first, let's talk about alcohol. Alcohol is the most legal readily available substance out there. Okay? And like I said, I don't think alcohol should be illegal but when we're talking about not legalizing weed because it's a gateway drug, let's take a look and see what the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has to say about alcohol. Alright? So according to the NIAAA, approximately 88,000 people die from alcohol related causes each year in the United States. In 2014, 31% of all driving fatalities were related to alcohol. Okay? So, as soon as you turn 21 years old you are able to get your hands on alcohol which is killing tens of thousands of people each year and it's one of the leading causes of driving fatalities. But we're going to be here worried about weed. Let's look at weed being a gateway drug, alright? We are currently in a massive opioid epidemic which has been going on for years. Like I said, my drug of choice was prescription opioids and I was about this close to doing heroin because prescription opioids when you don't got a prescription are expensive as hell. Alright? So, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 130 people each day die from opioids which is over 47,000 people per year. And now you're probably thinking, well Chris, opioids, that's heroin and all we got to do is put up that sweet little border wall and we don't got to worry about opioids coming into the United States. Well, that's incorrect because again, remember, people like Joe Biden say that weed is a gateway drug, alright? So, also, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and I can confirm this from my own personal experience working at a drug rehab and knowing thousands of heroin addicts, roughly 80% of people who use heroin started with the misuse of prescription opioids, alright? So, in the United States, there are approximately 652,000 people with a heroin addiction and over 80% of them started out by misusing legal prescribed prescription opioids, alright? So, when Joe Biden and others are talking about weed being this gateway drug, let's look at the number one problem drug in the United States, which is opioids and there's this misinformation out there that the problem is heroin and fentanyl, but like I just said, 80%, 80% of all the people who are addicted to heroin started out with prescription opioids. So, when I'm looking at presidential candidates and drug policy, I want to see what they're saying about the prescription drug crisis and the opioid epidemic and not focusing on weed, alright? Because, again, how many people are dying each year from weed, alright? Now, if I didn't sell you with all of that addiction talk, let's talk about the criminalization of marijuana, alright? The least dangerous substance out there, alright? Marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol, but think about how many people are currently incarcerated on some frickin' weed charges, alright? So, I hope you understand how much of our tax money is going towards keeping people in jail, keeping people in prison when they're caught with some weed, alright? Think about that for a second. How much money is coming out of our pockets funding these prisons for people who are in there with the least dangerous, least addictive substance out there? Isn't that a little bit ridiculous? And this is something that can ruin someone's life. They now have a criminal record because they were caught with weed, okay? And something that you'll see if you're paying attention to the debates or politics in general, whenever they're talking about Medicare for All or free college or like Andrew Yang's freedom dividend, the universal basic income, everybody's like, but where are we gonna get that money from? Alright? Well, let's look at the marijuana issue. All the money that we're gonna save from not locking people up, and trust me, I'm no economist, but if we're not locking people up because of weed, I imagine we're gonna save quite a bit of money in tax dollars, alright? And secondly, like I live in Nevada. I voted with a bunch of other people to legalize weed here back in, what was it, 2016. And the tax money from weed goes towards the state, alright? So think about that. If we legalize weed, not only will we be saving money by not locking people up on ridiculous weed charges, but we'll also be making a ton of money by taxing weed, alright? Like think about that for a second. They sure as hell aren't funding addiction treatment programs with all the prescription drugs that doctors are just making it rain all over the place that are leading to heroin addiction. And by the way, let me clarify on that. Like I am not against prescription opioids and painkillers and everything like that. I, that is a very nuanced conversation. I've done videos about it in the past, so I don't mean to shame anybody who has chronic pain or you've taken these medications or anything like that. But we need to realistically look at the situation at hand. And the elections are coming up next year, alright? And the last thing I'll say is, when I'm going to the ballots, right? When I'm placing my vote, I'm voting for candidates who are rooted in facts, evidence, science and all of that, not these wacky ideas and urban legends about the dangers of weed and everything, right? I want somebody who's going to be creating policies off of the real issues that are happening in the United States, alright? And I just really wanted to make this video because again, there's so much misinformation out there about marijuana and the drug epidemic and everything like that. So do me a favor. If you found anything in this video of value, please share this video so we can help get rid of some of the insane ideas out there about marijuana. Alright, anyways, that's all I got for this video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And a huge, huge thank you to everybody who supports the channel over on Patreon as well as everybody who supports the channel by buying my mental health books and my merch. Like this hoodie I got, rewired soul hoodie. So check out the rewired soul shop if you want to get yourself one. Alright, thanks again for watching. I'll see you next time.