Last week, there were many people on social media celebrating what has apparently become an unofficial “holiday” on April 20th. “420,” as it’s known, has come to be known as a day for smoking marijuana. While I’m not among the celebrants myself, it’s probably not all that surprising that the practice is growing in popularity since weed is being legalized or at least decriminalized in a growing number of states. One of the people who did celebrate the arrival of the day and the specific time (4:20 pm) was Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. He posted a photo of himself holding up a large, marijuana-themed flag on his Twitter account. This led to some immediate, predictable backlash. (Townhall)

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) is being criticized for promoting a 4/20, a so-called “holiday” popular with marijuana smokers worldwide.

The Democrat tweeted a photo of himself holding a flag with marijuana leaves scattered all over it, saying, “It’s 420 somewhere.”

“It’s 4:20 on 4/20. That’s the tweet,” Fetterman wrote in the caption.

Here’s the tweet with Fetterman hoisting the wacky tobaccy flag.

You’re encouraging a federal crime. Seems on brand, actually.

— Patrick (@PMC713) April 21, 2023

Because of my generally libertarian leanings, I used to support the legalization of marijuana. It seemed mostly harmless, or at least not much more dangerous than alcohol when compared to harder drugs. And locking people up for smoking it (which almost never happens anymore anyway) seemed pointless.

But my opinions have started to shift in recent years as we’ve learned of more studies suggesting that prolonged use of the very strong strains of the drug currently making the rounds may indeed be dangerous. Long-time users have developed psychosis and other mental disorders such as schizophrenia.

That brings us back to Fetterman and a couple of reasons that some people were put off by his antics. First of all, while many states have moved to legalize medical or even recreational marijuana use, it’s still a federal crime. Having federal legislators advertising the commission of federal crimes isn’t a good look, to say the least.

Even more to the point, with the aforementioned studies showing that excessive weed use can lead to mental health issues, we’re reminded that Fetterman himself was only just released from in-patient treatment for clinical depression, a medical disorder. And while it wasn’t caused by drug use (that we know of), he’s also dealing with cognitive disorders. Surely patients dealing with those sorts of challenges might run the risk of exacerbating their problems if they start getting high constantly.

Do you recall when Fetterman recently attempted to deliver some remarks at one of his first committee hearings? To say that it didn’t go well would be an understatement. So do we believe he would have done better or worse if he’d been stoned on top of everything else? I’m just asking because I’m not a doctor and couldn’t really say for sure. But no matter what reason you prefer, it just seems to me that neither Fetterman nor any of his colleagues on the Hill should be using their social media accounts to encourage this sort of thing.