Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Politicians don't get much more conservative than Orange County Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. He was Ronald Reagan's speechwriter, an inspiration behind California's anti-immigration Proposition 187, a Cold War hardliner, and a man who self-deprecatingly calls himself a "Neanderthal Republican."
But now, Rohrabacher has emerged as a national leader in one not-so-conservative issue: legalizing marijuana.
"The marijuana laws have been used to expand the power of government over people's lives more than just anything else I can think of," Rohrabacher said recently in San Francisco, shortly after a prime speaking slot at the International Cannabis Business Conference. "I would like marijuana to be treated the same way we treat alcohol."
Doing so, he says, would be the proper conservative move.
Republicans believe in personal responsibility, he said. They believe in states rights – and medicinal marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and adult recreational use is legal in four. "And Republicans are supposed to believe in the doctor-patient relationship," Rohrabacher said. "That's what Republicans are supposed to be about."
Reagan would have jumped on board now, too, Rohrabacher said. OK, maybe not Nancy Reagan, the driving force behind the "Just Say No" antidrug campaign of the 1980s, but her husband – the ex-Hollywood actor who co-starred with a chimp in "Bedtime for Bonzo" – might have been a late-in-life convert. For conservative reasons.
"Reagan was a libertarian conservative, and he always felt that limited government was his goal – as was personal responsibility," Rohrabacher said. "I think he would be very susceptible to actually joining ranks with others to achieve this goal at this time. It was not doable in his time. Even with medical marijuana. But I think he would be on the side of freedom.
"He had me hanging around, after all," Rohrabacher said, tugging at his gray sweater vest and matching shirt to reveal a puka shell necklace.
In his younger days, Rohrabacher admits, he lived "a pretty wild life."
"My goal in life was to drink Tequila and catch a good wave," he said.
And yes, he smoked some weed.
His "free spirit" ways were so obvious that Lyn Nofziger, the press secretary of Reagan's unsuccessful 1976 presidential bid, once told him he "can't use marijuana on this campaign," the congressman recalled.
By then, Rohrabacher says, he hadn't smoked in years (he insists he gave the stuff up at 23). "I was focused on defeating the Soviet Union," he said.
Larger Societal Issues
Rohrabacher, who was elected to Congress in 1988, supported California's medicinal marijuana law and the failed 2010 state ballot measure to legalize pot for recreational use, but didn't make a huge deal about either.
But over the years, he began to see the larger societal issues linked to marijuana. He would like the federal government to ease restrictions on marijuana research to see "what wonderful things could come of it." He wants wounded combat veterans to have access to medicinal cannabis from Veterans Affairs hospitals to ease their suffering. And he's sickened by the money and time spent on policing and adjudicating marijuana crimes.
"Years ago, if I had been arrested for smoking marijuana, all the things I did to make this a better world wouldn't have happened," Rohrabacher said.
Last year, he joined liberal Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, in crafting an amendment that would forbid the Justice Department from spending money on preventing the implementation of medical marijuana laws in states where voters have approved its use. Rohrabacher rallied four dozen Republicans to join him, telling them it was the conservative thing to do.
"He's been very consistent in his position and he hasn't wavered – that means a lot," said Farr's chief of staff Rochelle Dornatt. "He's been one of the reasons we've been able to have some success here."
"To have him out here saying this is huge," said Alex Rogers, executive producer of the International Cannabis Business Conference and a pot activist for more than two decades. "The message it sends is powerful: Your voters won't leave you over this issue."
Conservative District
Rohrabacher concedes that for a while last year, he was a bit worried about what his conservative district would think. But in November, he was elected with 64 percent of the vote – 3 percent more than he garnered in 2012.
"I think I've gained 5 percent of the vote of people who never consider voting for some right-wing jerk," Rohrabacher said.
But his stance on marijuana, he says, is "based on my principles and not some pragmatic calculation of political support."
"I'm 67," he said. "I might as well do everything I think is right. What am I worried about?"
Longtime marijuana leaders praise the Republican – which is not a phrase that has often been written.
"What's remarkable about him is that he's one of the few politicians who's leading from the front on this," said Dale Sky Jones, chairman of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform and a leader in the effort to legalize weed in California and elsewhere. "The way he's explaining it to Republicans, they have a chance to get it right on cannabis now after all these years."
Rohrabacher visited the Green Door Medical Cannabis Dispensary when he was in San Francisco. He's considering getting a medical marijuana card so he can use a cannabis-based salve to ease the pain in his aching shoulders. The discomfort is so bad, he hasn't been surfing in more than a year.
"I'm going to try it out," he said, then smiled at the notion of becoming perhaps the first medicinal marijuana card-carrying member of Congress. "If it helps, that's what I'll do."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ex-Reagan speechwriter Dana Rohrabacher a big backer of legal pot - SFGate
Author: Joe Garofoli
Contact: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com
Photo Credit: Amy Osborne
Website: SFGate: San Francisco Bay Area - News,Bay Area news, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Classifieds - SFGate
But now, Rohrabacher has emerged as a national leader in one not-so-conservative issue: legalizing marijuana.
"The marijuana laws have been used to expand the power of government over people's lives more than just anything else I can think of," Rohrabacher said recently in San Francisco, shortly after a prime speaking slot at the International Cannabis Business Conference. "I would like marijuana to be treated the same way we treat alcohol."
Doing so, he says, would be the proper conservative move.
Republicans believe in personal responsibility, he said. They believe in states rights – and medicinal marijuana is legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia, and adult recreational use is legal in four. "And Republicans are supposed to believe in the doctor-patient relationship," Rohrabacher said. "That's what Republicans are supposed to be about."
Reagan would have jumped on board now, too, Rohrabacher said. OK, maybe not Nancy Reagan, the driving force behind the "Just Say No" antidrug campaign of the 1980s, but her husband – the ex-Hollywood actor who co-starred with a chimp in "Bedtime for Bonzo" – might have been a late-in-life convert. For conservative reasons.
"Reagan was a libertarian conservative, and he always felt that limited government was his goal – as was personal responsibility," Rohrabacher said. "I think he would be very susceptible to actually joining ranks with others to achieve this goal at this time. It was not doable in his time. Even with medical marijuana. But I think he would be on the side of freedom.
"He had me hanging around, after all," Rohrabacher said, tugging at his gray sweater vest and matching shirt to reveal a puka shell necklace.
In his younger days, Rohrabacher admits, he lived "a pretty wild life."
"My goal in life was to drink Tequila and catch a good wave," he said.
And yes, he smoked some weed.
His "free spirit" ways were so obvious that Lyn Nofziger, the press secretary of Reagan's unsuccessful 1976 presidential bid, once told him he "can't use marijuana on this campaign," the congressman recalled.
By then, Rohrabacher says, he hadn't smoked in years (he insists he gave the stuff up at 23). "I was focused on defeating the Soviet Union," he said.
Larger Societal Issues
Rohrabacher, who was elected to Congress in 1988, supported California's medicinal marijuana law and the failed 2010 state ballot measure to legalize pot for recreational use, but didn't make a huge deal about either.
But over the years, he began to see the larger societal issues linked to marijuana. He would like the federal government to ease restrictions on marijuana research to see "what wonderful things could come of it." He wants wounded combat veterans to have access to medicinal cannabis from Veterans Affairs hospitals to ease their suffering. And he's sickened by the money and time spent on policing and adjudicating marijuana crimes.
"Years ago, if I had been arrested for smoking marijuana, all the things I did to make this a better world wouldn't have happened," Rohrabacher said.
Last year, he joined liberal Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, in crafting an amendment that would forbid the Justice Department from spending money on preventing the implementation of medical marijuana laws in states where voters have approved its use. Rohrabacher rallied four dozen Republicans to join him, telling them it was the conservative thing to do.
"He's been very consistent in his position and he hasn't wavered – that means a lot," said Farr's chief of staff Rochelle Dornatt. "He's been one of the reasons we've been able to have some success here."
"To have him out here saying this is huge," said Alex Rogers, executive producer of the International Cannabis Business Conference and a pot activist for more than two decades. "The message it sends is powerful: Your voters won't leave you over this issue."
Conservative District
Rohrabacher concedes that for a while last year, he was a bit worried about what his conservative district would think. But in November, he was elected with 64 percent of the vote – 3 percent more than he garnered in 2012.
"I think I've gained 5 percent of the vote of people who never consider voting for some right-wing jerk," Rohrabacher said.
But his stance on marijuana, he says, is "based on my principles and not some pragmatic calculation of political support."
"I'm 67," he said. "I might as well do everything I think is right. What am I worried about?"
Longtime marijuana leaders praise the Republican – which is not a phrase that has often been written.
"What's remarkable about him is that he's one of the few politicians who's leading from the front on this," said Dale Sky Jones, chairman of the Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform and a leader in the effort to legalize weed in California and elsewhere. "The way he's explaining it to Republicans, they have a chance to get it right on cannabis now after all these years."
Rohrabacher visited the Green Door Medical Cannabis Dispensary when he was in San Francisco. He's considering getting a medical marijuana card so he can use a cannabis-based salve to ease the pain in his aching shoulders. The discomfort is so bad, he hasn't been surfing in more than a year.
"I'm going to try it out," he said, then smiled at the notion of becoming perhaps the first medicinal marijuana card-carrying member of Congress. "If it helps, that's what I'll do."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Ex-Reagan speechwriter Dana Rohrabacher a big backer of legal pot - SFGate
Author: Joe Garofoli
Contact: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com
Photo Credit: Amy Osborne
Website: SFGate: San Francisco Bay Area - News,Bay Area news, Sports, Business, Entertainment, Classifieds - SFGate
