Miami’s deputy city attorney, Barnaby Min, has been taking some heat after he compared the legalization of medical marijuana in the city to pedophilia.
The Miami Planning Zoning and Appeals Board gathered together on Wednesday night to come to an agreement on dealing with zoning regulations for allowing the sale of medical marijuana in retail outlets, HuffPost reported.
However, Min was not having any of it, and simply said: “I’m happy to make it very easy. It’s not allowed.”
BREAKING: Miami City Attorney compares medical marijuana to legalizing pedophilia @FrancisSuarez @kenrussellmiami @Tomas_Regalado @DJA1968 pic.twitter.com/cJLhkXWgpV
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) May 18, 2017
In November, an overwhelming majority of voters in Florida agreed that medical marijuana should be legal in the state, according to the Miami New Times.
Adam Gersten, a board member and attorney, pressed the issue.
“How is it possible that 29 states are currently, successfully implementing — some for long periods of time — medical marijuana manufacturing, distribution, licensing, etc.?” Gersten asked.
“I have no idea, sir,” replied Min. “And I would never recommend to my client to ignore any laws [that] are out there, including federal laws.”
That’s when Min gave a “very poor example” to prove his argument.
“If the city of Miami for some infinite, god-forbidden reason thought having sex with a child was a great way to recover from some issue, and so we wrote it into our city code, just because the city says it’s legal does not mean it’s legal,” said Min. “So just because for marijuana, we say marijuana is legal and the state says it’s legal, until the federal government says it’s legal, it is not legal.”
Min’s remarks were reportedly met with a few seconds of “extremely awkward silence”.
But online netizens decided to chime in on Twitter and got the heated debate going further:
#BarnabyMin, Deputy City Attorney for #Miami: IMO this is an insane reach on your part, sir; not comparable, and gross. #ReeferMadness https://t.co/LomKWHYa6L
— (((Rachel T.))) (@RiccaFabulous) May 18, 2017
Oh #BarnabyMin you really are a reactionary 💩-pile. #medicalmarijuana #Miami
— David Prescott (@sporez) May 18, 2017
@HuffPostPol Hmmm. Sometimes when thorough background checks on our public officials don’t work, they alleviate the problem by speaking. #barnabymin flee
— Jeff Tayoun (@SgtTomorrow) May 18, 2017
@BillyCorben @FrancisSuarez @kenrussellmiami @Tomas_Regalado @DJA1968 Might be the poorest use of logic ever
— Punch Drunk (@punchdrunk) May 18, 2017
@BillyCorben @FrancisSuarez @kenrussellmiami @Tomas_Regalado @DJA1968 Is it legal to be this stupid?
— Mikey D (@Mikeyseuro) May 18, 2017
@BillyCorben @FrancisSuarez @kenrussellmiami @Tomas_Regalado @DJA1968 So…marijuana talk immediately brings your mind to pedophelia? Really? pic.twitter.com/nkfvnJSWkR
— JD (@JdKirkpatrick) May 18, 2017
@BillyCorben @AmandiOnAir @FrancisSuarez @kenrussellmiami @Tomas_Regalado @DJA1968 What is he smoking?
— Alex Lobo (@GeekLawGrad) May 18, 2017
