Weed Is the Only Bipartisan Issue

Very fast American runner Sha’Carri Richardson will officially not be competing in the Tokyo Olympics despite running very fast, after being left off the coach-selected relay team that was her last hope of participating in the Summer Games. This nail in the coffin comes after Richardson’s suspension from the U.S. team last week after she tested positive for THC in a state that allows recreational marijuana following news that her biological mother had died.

The furor over the track star’s suspension has made strange bedfellows of political figures from both sides of the aisle, as progressive lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and right-wing Twitter users like Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump Jr. (who peppered his statement with his signature semi-literate punctuation and violent transphobia) have condemned the decision.

Even lifelong centrist Joe Biden mumbled something about how, although “rules are rules,” those very rules might be (gasp) imperfect.

Although a YouGov poll of 29,000 U.S. adults found that 42 percent of Republicans strongly support Richardson’s suspension, attitudes towards marijuana legalization among even right-leaning voters have shifted dramatically in recent years, with 87 percent of Republican or Republican-leaning adults supporting some form of legalization, according to the Pew Research Center. Meanwhile, 23 percent of Democrat or Democrat-leaning adults support legalized medical usage, and 72 percent support legalized medical and recreational usage.

Finally, something both sides of the aisle can agree on. Perhaps the only path to civility is sharing a blunt with someone who wants to strip rights from minorities everywhere.