Bill Nye ‘The Science Guy’ Supports the Legalization of Marijuana

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” isn’t a marijuana user himself, but he supports legalization. He also supports the need for more research. In a recent NowThis Weed episode he explains why it should be legal regardless of his disapproval of smoking marijuana.

Nye wants to see increased research take place regarding marijuana, according to Seattle PI. Research efforts can’t be expanded until the federal government reclassifies marijuana and indicates that it does have medicinal value. He lives in Washington and has seen how the revenue from marijuana sales is positively impacting the state’s economy.

Nye said, “What’s happened with marijuana is it’s a Schedule I drug, which means it’s presumed to be addictive and it’s presumed to have no medical value. Yet people are using it for all these medical applications. So well, let’s study it. Well, you’re not allowed to study it because it’s a Schedule I drug … So that has to be sorted out.”

Nye isn’t a fan of marijuana odor.

He said, “I don’t like the smell. I just don’t like it. One time in college I tried it, and I’m not good at smoking. I didn’t put in the hours to get good at smoking.”

He says that the economy and quality of life have improved in Washington since legalization took place.

He said, “I lived in Washington State for a long time, and Washington State legalized it in 2012. We legalized marijuana, we tax it. We have a lot of tax revenue. It’s no longer criminalized. We don’t spend money on the police department. We spend money regulating the industry in the same way we regulate other substances.”