A US Senator says gas prices have become so high that “it would be cheaper to buy cocaine” and run everywhere instead of Americans using their cars.

       Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana made the wisecrack as he discussed the historic high prices at the pump across the country, where a gallon of gas has now crossed the $5 per gallon threshold in 17 states.

       “President Biden continues to campaign for more economic chaos, meanwhile, I don’t know about where you live Jesse, but in my state, the price of gas is so high that it would be cheaper to buy cocaine and just run everywhere,” Mr Kennedy told Jesse Watters on Fox News.

       Idaho, Ohio and Pennsylvania became the latest states to cross the $5 per gallon mark, while California remains the highest at an average price of $6.39 a gallon. As of Wednesday, the national average currently sits at $4.995 per gallon.

       And data shows that as of Tuesday, 29 per cent of the 130,000 gas stations in the US were already selling it for more than $5 a gallon.

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       Meanwhile, despite the senator’s rhetoric, Louisiana is still one of the cheapest palces in the country to buy gas, at a current average price of $4.495 per gallon, according to gasprices.aaa.com.

       “People are still fueling up, despite these high prices,” said AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross.

       “At some point, drivers may change their daily driving habits or lifestyle due to these high prices, but we are not there yet.”

       A string of factors has caused the spike in gas prices, including the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and high demand from US consumers outpacing what refineries can produce, according to the US Energy Administration.