Rep. Matt Gaetz had a simple response to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway's concerns about marijuana legalization: "OK, Boomer."
The Florida Republican dropped the generational put-down Saturday on CNN's "Smerconish Show" after being shown a clip from April of Conway saying, "There are many health professionals and employers increasingly concerned that this is not your grandfather or your father's marijuana. The TCH components are much stronger."
Gaetz, 37, said he had worked to "be a positive influence" on President Donald Trump regarding marijuana reform. And he was not impressed by Conway's argument.
"To my friend Kellyanne Conway, I would say: OK, Boomer. I mean that's a very Boomer approach to marijuana, if for no other reason that it's actually THC, not TCH," Gaetz said, adding that her position showed a "real ignorance to the science."
He said states that have some form of marijuana legalization have reduced numbers of opioid overdose and addiction as well as fewer schedule 1 drug recommendations.
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"This is not an issue that young people are fighting about. This is largely generational more than it is partisan," Gaetz said.
He said the "federal prohibition against marijuana has not worked," arguing it "impaired research" and "functions as a wet blanket over the innovation and investment that could allow marijuana to improve people's lives around the country."
In response, Conway told CNN she is a Gen Xer and said "those of us working" on the issue "are looking for a balance."
The issue of marijuana legalization also showed some divisions within the Democratic Party when last week former Vice President, the sole top Democratic presidential candidate to oppose legalization, argued marijuana could be a "gateway drug."
Eleven states and the District of Columbia have approved the use of recreational marijuana, and another fifteen states have decriminalized marijuana possession. Thirty-three states allow the use of medical marijuana.
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