Attorney General Jeff Sessions wants to expand federal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws—no matter what individual states might themselves desire. Toward this end, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is blowing some smoke of his own.

“I believe it’s an unhealthy practice, and current levels of THC in marijuana are very high compared to what they were a few years ago, and we’re seeing real violence around that,” Sessions said. “Experts are telling me there’s more violence around marijuana than one would think and there’s big money involved.”

Sessions is attempting to roll up several ideas into one here, but the notion that we're seeing "real violence" from marijuana users potted up on today’s newfangled fancy-shmancy products seems to be, as you might suspect, bunk. Which is standard operating procedure for the most dishonest White House in history, Nixon included, but still ought to be considered bad coming from, sigh, the man running the whole freakin' Department of Justice. Because:

Denver saw a 2.2 percent drop in violent crime rates in the year after the first legal recreational cannabis sales in Colorado. Overall property crime dropped by 8.9 percent in the same period there, according to figures from the Drug Policy Alliance. In Washington, violent crime rates dropped by 10 percent from 2011 to 2014. Voters legalized recreational marijuana there in 2012. Medical marijuana laws, which have a longer track record for academics than recreational pot legalization, are also associated with stable or falling violent crime rates.

So there you go. Whatever you may think of the demon weed or how many 1950’s B-grade dramas you’ve watched (looking at you, Mr. Sessions) it still doesn't appear to be sending users into pot-fueled violent fits of rage. On the contrary, the violence surrounding marijuana is the violence caused by its illegal status.