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Drugs

2 Chainz Made Nancy Grace Look Like an Idiot When They Debated Pot Legalization

On Tuesday night, Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz appeared on 'Nancy Grace' to talk pot legalization. Like just about every other interview on the show, this "debate" devolved into a discussion about toddlers doing drugs.

On Tuesday night, Atlanta rapper 2 Chainz appeared on Nancy Grace to talk pot legalization. Like nearly every other interview on the mind-numbingly melodramatic show, this "debate" devolved pretty quickly thanks to the former prosecutor-turned-host going off the sensationalistic deep end.

"I've seen a video of you smoking a big fat doobie!" Grace exclaimed to the rapper, who sat in quiet bewilderment. 2 Chainz absorbed barbs like these with the kind of cool that only comes with regular cannabis consumption. Then, to further yank at the heartstrings of Middle America, Grace played a video of a mother giving her toddler a blunt. Although she probably hoped this would get a rise out of 2 Chainz, the artist formerly known as Tity Boi kept his cool and just stated the obvious: Moms giving kids pot shows the dangers of parental abuse, not weed legalization. "She might have mental issues," he said. "It might be something deeper than a joint, I believe."

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Related: "The War on Kids"

Grace segued awkwardly from the sensational "pot tot" to a straw man argument. "If this is legalized, then everyone is going to have unlimited access to pot," she said. In reality, however, every state with medical or recreational marijuana has placed effective limits on access—save for California, where medical marijuana has been loosely regulated since voters embraced it in 1996. Both new recreational marijuana states (Oregon and Alaska) and every new medical marijuana state (Maryland, Minnesota, and New York) stringently monitor the production, prescription, and possession of cannabis. And as 2 Chainz pointed out, most Americans already have access to pot because it is illegal, unregulated, and everywhere. The rapper also made the case that the only thing that prohibition does is waste taxpayer dollars and increase incarceration rates.

2 Chainz's relaxed and matter-of-fact demeanor made Grace look ignorant and crazy to most discerning viewers. Of course, modern America is full of non-discerning viewers who might actually be receptive to Grace's dog and pony show, which makes this hilarious display actually concerning.

Grace often argues that she is an informed individual when it comes to cannabis, claiming a year ago on CNN that she formed her opinion "after studying and reading every shred of scientific and resource data out there." As it happens, Grace was a prosecutor in Georgia, the very state where 2 Chainz came up slinging pot.

There's evidence that she was just as aggressive back in those days as she is on TV. The Georgia Supreme Court reprimanded Grace in 1997 when overturning a verdict in one of her cases, citing "a pattern of inappropriate and, in some cases, illegal conduct" during the trial. Today Grace's efforts to incriminate defendants don't carry the force of law, but as the clip above shows, she tends to rush to judgment and rarely backs down—a trait she presumably has in common with a lot of her viewers.

As we wait for Grace and everyone who shares her steadfast ignorance to die of natural causes, let's remember that there is some semblance of sanity in this world to combat her blind vitriol. In this case, it came to us courtesy of a rapper with an appreciation for big booties and True Religion Jeans.

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