Arizona Congressman Trent Franks last week sounded the alarm bell that nukes could easily be smuggled into the United States hidden in a bale of weed. Reefer Madness jokes quickly ensued and most everyone got a little chuckle out the statement.
The odds of a nuke disguised in brick weed crossing the border is, well, probably incalculable. But it is possible? It’s not the first time the question has come up. Seriously.
-
Related Story: Flying With Legal Weed: Does The TSA Care About Marijuana?
Franks, who serves a congressional district about 100 miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border, was discussing the illegal drug trade and the planned border wall on Wednesday while on a CNN program with Brianna Keilar:
“The reality, Brianna, is that we have to measure all of the costs, ancillary and otherwise, and make the best decision that we can. But I can suggest to you that there are national security implications here for a porous border. We sometimes used to make the point that if someone wanted to smuggle in a dangerous weapon, even a nuclear weapon, into America, how would they do it? And the suggestion was made, ‘Well, we’ll simply hide it in a bale of marijuana.’ ”
This was not just a top-of-the-head, brain fart. Franks has suggested this nefarious method in the past. Five year ago, in a speech on the floor of the House, Franks said:
“Specifically imagine for a moment, Mr. Speaker, the scenario of Hezbollah, one of Iran’s terrorist proxies, gaining possession of just two nuclear warheads and bringing them across the border into the United States concealed, say, in bales of marijuana; then transporting them into the heart of two different, crowded, unnamed cities. Then calling and telling the White House exactly when and where the first one will be detonated, and then following through 60 seconds later.”
Is Franks’ theory madness? Well, he’s not alone. The idea was bandied about in 1996 by David Kay, a weapons expert and a former chief weapons inspector for the United Nations. After the Gulf War, Kay led teams of inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Iraq.
While at the IAEA, Kay was interviewed on PBSs’ “Frontline,” and this to say:
“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. 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.”
And this is not just a right-wing conspiracy theory. Democrats have also made the nuke-nug connection. A decade ago, California Congressman Brad Sherman stated:
“The most important issue facing the United States, and certainly the most important part of this bill, deals with preventing nuclear attack on American cities. Since a nuclear bomb is about the size of a person, it could be smuggled into the United States inside a bale of marijuana.”
Even academics have weighed in. Jack Ruina, a professor at MIT, wrote this in 2001 for The Washington Post:
“A potential adversary does not have to rely on ballistic missiles to deliver a warhead. A small nation could easily resort to using planes, ships, cruise missiles or, as has been facetiously suggested, to hiding a warhead in a bale of marijuana, the shipment of which defies most detection.”
So, Franks is not an outlier here. But how real is this threat? Well, marijuana smugglers have been pirating kilos upon kilos of weed into the U.S. for decades and it hasn’t happened yet. In fact, most of the marijuana in the country now is made in the good ol’ United States. It is probably more of a domestic threat if anything.
Back in the day, marijuana consumers had to check for seeds and stems. Checking for a nuclear weapon? Whoa, dude. Talk about harshing your mellow.
[gravityform id=”13″ title=”false” description=”true”]
