Forget the tired argument about cannabis being being a gateway drug to more dangerous substances.
A Republican member of Congress believes a nuclear bomb could be smuggled into the United States hidden inside cannabis.
Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) warned CNN that a nuke could enter the U.S. under the cover of pot.
“We sometimes used to make the point that if someone wanted to smuggle a dangerous weapon into America, even a nuclear weapon, how would they do it?” said Franks. “The suggestion is, maybe we’ll hide it in a bale of marijuana. There are national security implications here for a porous border.”
This actually isn’t as crazy as it sounds given that a nuclear bomb isn’t much larger than a human being and as International Atomic Energy Agency spokesperson David Kay of the explained to PBS’s “Frontline” in 1996:
“I’ve often said, my preferred method for delivering a nuclear device is, I would hide it in a bale of marijuana, contract it out to the drug lords and move it,” Kay said. “Marijuana is a good shielder actually for radiation. The drug lords have a superb record for delivery. They’re not Fed Ex, but they’re awfully close to it. And contract it out and get it across the border.”
The Washington Post reported that Franks’ suggestion has also been floated recently by a Democrat.
“Missile defense is OK politically, but remember you can smuggle a nuclear weapon inside a bale of marijuana,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) said at a congressional hearing about North Korea earlier this month. Sherman also said something similar at a hearing in January, and mentioned the potential scenario several times when discussing Iran in 2015.
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to help curb the flow of “bad hombres” into America.