Congressman Dana Rohrabacher of California may be one of the most vocal proponents of legal cannabis on Capitol Hill. But in some circles, he is also considered a lunatic.
For nearly 30-years, this Republican soldier has been waving the freak flag in Washington D.C. Yet, despite getting Congress to support medical marijuana, his voice is also behind asinine comments and conspiracy theories. Some of them should inspire the cannabis advocacy community to bury its head in sand.
Not only does Rohrabacher believe Muslims were responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing. He also testified once that it was possible that dinosaur farts may have caused global warming. We would be remiss to discount his importance to the cannabis movement.
But Rohrabacher is the kind of political weirdo that threatens the progress of national reform. Still, he is out there on the front lines. Is this Congressman sabotaging legal cannabis?
Dinosaur Farts and Ancient Martians
Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California’s 48th District, a longtime member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, once toldhis constituents that the concept of man-made global warming was a scam.
Although an IPCC report concluded that humans have been the driving force for climate change, the Republican stood against science. He told the study authors that “dinosaur flatulence” was more likely to blame. Rohrabacher later said his dino fart comments was just a joke
But Rohrabacher was not joking last year when he asked whether Mars was once inhabited by an ancient civilization. It was during a Science, Space and Technology Space Subcommittee meeting that Rohrabacher questioned NASA officials about the possibility of Martians inhabiting the solar system.
Scientists told the Republican that there was no evidence that intelligent life ever roamed the Red Planet. But, from the look on Rohrabacher’s face when they delivered the news, we’re not convinced he believed them. And he probably still doesn’t.
Robert Kennedy and Bad Arabs
Representative Rohrabacher became obsessed with the 1968 assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy. He believed the LAPD covered up the fact that Sirhan Sirhan, convicted in 1969, was part of a Palestinian conspiracy.
Sure, to this day, some folks remain unsettled about the details surrounding the murder of Robert Kennedy, but Rohrabacher has, perhaps, taken the paranoia on this subject to a whole other level.
A 2008 report from the Pasadena Weekly indicates that Rohrabacher visited Sirhan at the Corcoran State Prison in hopes of getting to the bottom of the Kennedy assassination. But he thought it would be difficult to secure a meeting as Dana Rohrabacher.
So, in order to get a face-to-face with Sirhan, Rohbacher reportedly disguised himself as a woman named Diana. Yes, the lawmaker visited the prison in drag in hopes of solving the assassination of Senator Kennedy. The Republican then “repeatedly badgered” the prisoner for a confession.
Oklahoma City Bombing and Other Baloney Conspiracies
Incidentally, Rohrabacher pulled a similar stunt in order to interview Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols. He reportedly traveled to a Colorado prison to talk to Nichols because he was convinced that Muslims were responsible for the terrorist act, not a couple of local boys.
One would think that a man who claims to have such close tied to the Central Intelligence Agency would have access to top secret plots without imposing this level of crazy. But then again, Rohrabacher’s madness did not end there.
Last year, Representative Rohrabacher called the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia “a total hoax.” He believes liberals orchestrated the violent scene in an effort to put President Donald Trump “on the spot.”
He told the San Francisco Chronicle that the commotion stemming from the rally, which resulted in the death of Heather Hayer, was “baloney.” That all of the insanity between white supremacists and counter protestors was masterminded by Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders supporters “in order to have this confrontation.”
The Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment
Los Angeles Times
Representative Rohrabacher is a salvation’s wing for medical marijuana. In 2013, he proposed a unique plan designed to prevent the Justice Department from spending tax dollars to investigate, raid and prosecute the medical marijuana community.
And it worked. For the past few years, the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment has been part of the federal budget. It continues to keep medical marijuana states safe from federal interference.
But this temporary reform could end up being Rohrabacher’s swan song. The lawmaker has signed on in support of other marijuana-related measures. However, Congressional leadership has not given them any consideration.
Final Hit: This Congressman Could Be Sabotaging Legal Cannabis
It is possible that the eccentric, Republican voice of this long time lawmaker could be part of the reason marijuana legalization seems to have hit a snag at the nation level.
It could be that all of the influential members of Congress see a man passionate for the cause, but then they find themselves concerned about how crazy it might look to join him.
A representative for marijuana reform connected to conspiracy theories and dinosaur farts is not likely taken seriously by Congressional members. Yet the legal cannabis advocacy community continues to embrace him.
