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AP report on the growing amount of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates who are supporting legalization of recreational marijuana

Deleted member 3812

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
8,821
A growing amount of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are announcing their support for legalizing recreational marijuana which is reflecting what the majority of Americans are in support of: https://apnews.com/7e4acf71a9a843d4a307887096f8ce74

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A growing list of Democratic presidential contenders want the U.S. government to legalize marijuana, reflecting a nationwide shift as more Americans look favorably on cannabis.

Making marijuana legal at the federal level is the "smart thing to do," says California Sen. Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor whose home state is the nation's largest legal pot shop. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a prominent legalization advocate on Capitol Hill, says the war on drugs has been a "war on people."

Former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke, who appears poised to join the 2020 Democratic field, has written a book arguing marijuana legalization would hobble drug cartels. In an email to supporters this week, he called again to end the federal prohibition on marijuana.

"Who is going to be the last man — more likely than not a black man — to languish behind bars for possessing or using marijuana when it is legal in some form in more than half of the states in this country?" O'Rourke wrote.

It's a far different approach from the not-so-distant past, when it was seen as politically damaging to acknowledge smoking pot and no major presidential candidate backed legalization.

In 1992, then-White House candidate Bill Clinton delivered a famously tortured response about a youthful dalliance with cannabis, claiming he tried it as a graduate student in England but "didn't inhale." And two decades before that, President Richard Nixon unleashed a war on marijuana and other drugs and it helped carry him to a second term.

This year, leading Democrats hold similar positions supporting legalization. Presidential hopefuls in the Senate who have co-sponsored Booker's legislation to end the federal prohibition include Harris, New York's Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Vermont's Bernie Sanders, who campaigned on decriminalizing pot in his 2016 presidential bid.

Another 2020 Democratic candidate, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, supports legalization and believes states should have the right to determine how to handle marijuana regulation within their borders but hasn't signed on to Booker's legislation.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who entered the contest this month, said in his announcement speech it's "about time" to legalize the drug nationally.
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PaJeppy

Banned
Nov 8, 2017
1,094
A lot of people smoke it regardless of the laws. Might as well make some tax revenue.
 
night814

night814

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
15,042
Pennsylvania
100% needs reclassification and decriminalization and anyone serving a sentence based on marijuana possession need to be reviewed and released.
 
perfectchaos007

perfectchaos007

It's Happening
Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,249
Texas
Legalize it on a federal level and then allow states to vote on whether or not to allow sale of it in their state. Many states have already made that vote and are ahead of the game.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 3812

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,821
The AP reports that the only Democratic 2020 presidential candidate who does not support full legalization of recreational marijuana is former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper:

Standing somewhat apart from the Democratic field is the man who presided over one of the first legal recreational marijuana marketplaces in the nation, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Hickenlooper opposed the ballot measure that fully legalized marijuana in Colorado in 2012. But he said he accepted the will of the voters and won praise for implementing the measure. He says his "worst fears" about legalization haven't been realized and considers the system better than when the drug was illegal.

Still, Hickenlooper isn't willing to go as far as some competitors. Rather than calling for national legalization, he wants the drug to no longer be a Schedule 1 controlled substance so it can be studied.

He doesn't think the federal government "should come in and tell every state that it should be legal," believing states should make their own determinations.

"I trust this process by which states should be the models of, or laboratories of, democracy," he said.
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The_Land

The_Land

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,390
Cleveland Ohio
I don't see pot being illegal in America for much longer. Can't wait till the Michigan stores open since they passed last November. 3 hour round trip to get anything I want.
 
MazeHaze

MazeHaze

Member
Nov 1, 2017
8,587
It needs to happen. The fact that it's still illegal is so laughable. I always hear old out of touch white people cite mexican weed as a reason for border security, these people have no clue. I live in fuckin Ohio and I haven't even seen mexican brick pack weed in over a decade. Nobody wants that shit, and nobody wants to sell it. Some of the best weed in the world is already grown legally right here in the USA. Prices have gone down considerably because of it too, used to be completely normal to charge 60 an eighth for dank nugs, that's why people would still buy brown schwag for 70 bucks an oz. Now that great weed is super affordable and literally everywhere, what are we even doing with weed laws lol.
 
adamsappel

adamsappel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,503
I wanted Tulsi Gabbard to be in the race because I assumed she was the only one actually pro-legalization and I wanted the issue raised in debates, so it's nice that she can drop out now.
 
leeky

leeky

Member
Oct 27, 2017
368
Doesn't make any sort of sense that weed is still illegal. Praying it happens next election.
 
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