Where Do Donald Trump And Other Republicans Stand On Cannabis Use?

[Robert Celt]

With the Republican U.S. presidential candidates getting ready to take the stage at yet another debate Saturday evening, they should be preparing to discuss an issue of high importance: marijuana legalization. Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, the front-runner in the GOP opinion polls, addressed the matter when he appeared on the Fox News Channel show "The O'Reilly Factor" Wednesday.

Trump was asked whether he was concerned about people buying cannabis in Colorado, where marijuana is legal, and then reselling it outside the state, where it may or may not be legal. He replied that this situation presented a problem, but he also discussed the drug's benefits when employed for medicinal purposes.

"I would really want to think about that one," Trump said, according to a transcript of the program. "Because in some ways I think it's good and in other ways it's bad. I do want to see what the medical effects are. I have to see what the medical effects are, and, by the way, medical marijuana, medical? I'm in favor of it a hundred percent. But what you are talking about, perhaps not. It's causing a lot of problems out there."

Trump, who advocated the legalization of drugs in the early 1990s, has since changed his stance, saying he now favors marijuana use for medical purposes, as opposed to full legalization, and that individual states should make the decisions for themselves.

In line with Trump, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who polls indicate is in second place in the race for the GOP nomination, has said he does not favor legalizing marijuana but does favor states making their own decisions. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who polls suggest is in third place in the race for the party's nomination, has said in the past he does not favor legalizing marijuana but is open to its use for medicinal purposes as long as proper Food and Drug Administration protocols are followed.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has discussed his own experience smoking marijuana, but has said he does not favor legalization. Like most of the Republican presidential candidates, he sees it as an issue to be decided state by state. The sole doctor among the party's candidates, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, opposes marijuana for recreational use but told voters in Iowa he supports its use for specific medicinal cases, the Des Moines Register reported.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who placed second in the New Hampshire primary election, has said in the past he opposes all marijuana use, but he softened his tone on the campaign trail in the Granite State. "Medical marijuana, I think we can look at it," Kasich said, according to the Columbus-Dispatch.

The debate Saturday night will be held in South Carolina, a state that does not have legalized cannabis even for medicinal purposes. However, legislators in the Palmetto State could discuss a medical marijuana bill later this year.

News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Where Do Donald Trump And Other Republicans Stand On Cannabis Use?
Author: Lydia Tomkiw
Contact: International Business Times
Photo Credit: Jonathan Bachman
Website: International Business Times

 

[Canna Bus]

Funny thing about politics, it's not about governing well and doing what's right it's all about CYA...

 

[Takelababy]

Politicians will say whatever they figure will reap the most votes. If it's an anti cannabis state then the talk will be about protecting the youth from it. That's always a good one to rile the public. Hell, the kids know where to get it by grade 8.

 

[BrokrnEyes]

Trump any other Republicans remind me of Hillary's stance, make a big statement and see you rather leave it up to the states. It's funny, was in Sanders the first want to say that he would legalize it and since then all the other candidates have said varying degrees of the same thing? boy they're all taking cues from an "evil socialist"... To Bad candidates can't be held responsible for their campaign promises….

 

[Auggie]

My vote is for sale.
Five dollars and you got it.

I don't care if its Comrade Bernie, or Mein Fuhrer Herr Trump. It really doesn't matter who gets in, they are (or will be) a politician. That means they gunna do whatever the fuck they want to do. We the people have given up our rights, the Constitution is dead. Long live the King.

So -- for sale. One vote.
Five dollars, American.

~ Auggie ~

 

[BrokrnEyes]

My vote is for sale.
Five dollars and you got it.

I don't care if its Comrade Bernie, or Mein Fuhrer Herr Trump. It really doesn't matter who gets in, they are (or will be) a politician. That means they gunna do whatever the fuck they want to do. We the people have given up our rights, the Constitution is dead. Long live the King.

So -- for sale. One vote.
Five dollars, American.

~ Auggie ~

I know this sounds cynical but hasn't it always been like that? A pencil FDR, there was no term limits on the presidency, meaning that up until FDR any president could've theoretically stayed in office until they died, which FDR did! The whole two-term tradition was started by George Washington, who actually was riding around in a carriage wearing lion skin not unlike a king. For Pete's sake this isn't an even a true democracy, it's a representative republic. We vote people in and actually trust that they are somehow above corruption and are socially conscious enough to do the right thing. We the people only actually participate in the government once every four years or so to elect a new governor or president and even that can be overturned by say The Democrats super delegates ( men and women who are not bound by the same laws that the rest of us are in regards to voting, they're allowed to cast their vote whenever they want and to change it whenever they want, which in the past two states have been what has allowed Hillery her ties with Sanders, and that's completely undoing the will of the people) to the electoral college itself which is actually the actual votes that decides who becomes president. The electro college only takes it's cue from the popular vote, the ones that actually catch the boat or under no legal obligation to follow the popular vote! The entire country could vote for say Sanders but if everyone that's in the electoral college was a Trump supporter, they can all cast the vote for Trump and that would be, by our laws, the one who wins the election! Take into account the fact that the Belle is always secrets and that we have to trust that all the votes are counted it accurately, which I think when George W. Bush ran for the first time, that whole BS that occurred in Florida is a prime example of ballot manipulation (Full disclaimer, the first time George W Bush was voted into office I was not eligible to vote, the second time I actually voted for him) and yet we all get bent out of shape when someone says that they didn't vote or are not going to vote. Simple fact of the matter is, our ability as citizens of this country to decide the next president is so heavily manipulated with safeguards that were put in place from the countries inception, how our country's government is drilled into every single school child's brain as if it's the greatest thing mankind has ever come up with, one just can't help but think were frankly being lied to.


By the way, if I send you five dollars do you promise to write on your ballot Generals Zod of krypton?

 

[Takelababy]

I suspect Trump is playing a game. He has more money that he knows what to do with it, so why not go for the most prestigious job in the country - President. His promises, like everyone else's are (to quote Shakespeare) full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. The rules are already laid down and he, or anyone else must abide by them. Private feelings are pushed aside and the president must do as his advisor's tell him.

 

[OlderGrower]

Wow this article has made me sit up and take notice. First off, while I am a very strong advocate for the legalization of MJ, I will not sell out my country or my morals to get it.
Lets take a look at some of these candidates. Lets just say for arguments sake, that every Republican candidate was going to legalize MJ as their first act in office. Lets start with Ted Cruz. Forget the legalization of MJ since now every candidate is going to give us that, how will Ted deal with ISSIS. Oh thats right, he wants to go to Syria and carpet-bomb them. HELLO, carpet-bombing will kill innocent people, many who will have friends and family. If these friends and family did not hate America before the carpet-bombing, trust me, they will after we kill their friends and families. Yes war is hell but if you have a fox in the hen house you do not bomb the hen house to kill the fox. Personally I would not condone murder of innocent people, to prevent my fellow countrymen/women from being persecuted over MJ, no matter what color their skin is.

How about our friend Marco Rubio, he is not for carpet-bombing, so he surely must be the better choice. He claims he will fix immigration, and how does he plan to do this? By tracking every person in this country and if you do not belong here you will be deported. Great, but how does he plan to track 360 million people? Perhaps when you travel to a different city for work or to visit a friend, you would not mind stopping at a check point and producing your papers. Or maybe he will be more modern and get with the new millennium. You would not mind if they inject a tracking chip into you would you? For national security of course. Perhaps you know of an easier way to track 360 million people which does not require such radical steps, if so please enlighten me.

On to Jeb Bush, while I was not a big fan of dad, he was not the worst president we ever had, now his brother on the other hand, that would be debatable. Out of all the Republican candidates, Jeb is the least scary and in all honesty, that bothers me to have to say that.
We have had two Bush presidents and each one of them got us into at least one war. Perhaps Jeb will break that family legacy but in all reality I doubt it.

Last but not least, Donald Trump, who by the way, this article states is the for runner, which I have seen polls after the New Hampshire primary that states he is no longer the front runner, that Ted Cruz actually now is the front runner. What can be said about Donald. Well for starters, he is popular only because he promotes hate. As far into the primaries as we are I have only heard one actual plan that he has for anything and that is for immigration. He will build a wall, a great wall, and Mexico will pay for it. Apparently he has never heard of that new invention they recently discovered called the "Tunnel" He keeps saying he is going to "Make America Great Again" but never actually tells you how, plus great for who? Great for the .1%? What is his stance on anything? I keep watching and listening yet he says NOTHING.
If you think he will promote the reversal of Citizens United and get big money out of politics your kidding yourself. He himself proudly admits he bought and paid for politicians. So if you like the way this country is being run at this very minute, he is the candidate for you because under him, nothing is going to change.


In all honesty, if Bernie Sanders were not running for president, I would not even bother to vote, since every candidate is already bought and paid for, and there is no way for me to compete with the likes of the Koch brothers, wall street or any of the other billionaire individuals or corporations which are buying control of our nation. If for some unforeseen reason the DNC gives the nomination to Hillary, it will be time to start singing,

"A long long time ago...I can still remember how the music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance, I could make those people dance. And, maybe, they would be happy for a while. But February made me shiver, with every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried, When I read about his widowed bride, but something touched me deep inside The day the music died. So bye bye miss American pie, drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry. And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singing "This'll be the day that the American dream dies, This'll be the day that the American dream dies.

 

[Auggie]

I am 62 years old, and I never, ever thought I would see the day when some old fart gets on TV and says, "I am a communist, and I want to be president." Really.

He promises the world and boasts of his Socialist leanings. The problem we have with illegal immigration is BECAUSE of socialism. The people leaving South America and Mexico are leaving because their country is poor ... their country IS SOCIALIST. Socialism causes poverty.

Looks like our choices next election is between a Socialist (think Stalin) and a fascist (think Hitler).
Hellova choice, eh?

~ Auggie ~

 

[1ofaKind]

The basis of being a Republican is that you believe in limiting governmental power and allowing states more freedom to rule themselves.

The responses from most candidates are in line, stating that it is medically of use (willing to have the government approve it) and leave it up to states to decide if it is recreationally legal.

As more that half the states have allowed medical use, now these big wigs are OKing it. That is a great system!

Rather that the government just saying you can or can't have it.

See, they do listen

 

[Auggie]

Respectfully disagree, 1.

They don't listen - they are FORCED to change. Big difference.

For example ... here in California We The People voted on what the definition of marriage is. A majority of citizens here voted on defining something that has had the same definition for the last 2000 years ... and, some asshat in a black robe on the 9th Circus Court of Appeals said we were wrong, and with the stroke of a pen, changed it. Did our vote matter? Did 'the government' listen? Nope.

A few years ago, We The People of California voted on Medical Marijuana. Doesn't matter. Cops still arrest people in compliance with the law. District attorneys still prosecute, and judges still send people to prison for marijuana. It is up to "the accused" to spend upwards of $100,000 to prove his innocence. The system spends the same amount, but that justifies more money for the "war on drugs". So, the cops, DA's, and judges win even if they lose.

The responses of the candidates are irrelevant. They lie. ALL OF THEM.

Obama said he wasn't going to pursue MMJ clinics - Federal DOJ still does.
We have a DA in my county of Shasta in California that PROMISED that he wasn't interested in prosecuting MMJ cases - but he does.

They do not listen - they don't care. They are the ruling class and we are just surfs.

My vote is for sale - Five Dollars American.

~ Auggie ~

 

[BrokrnEyes]

There's more going on this election cycle other than a socialist, a billionaire and a smattering of crooked politicians. The country is at a cross roads at multiple levels.

Socially We're regressing. Tensions between the white and black communities are on the rise and is being inflamed by police violence. The rollback of portions of the civil rights laws is making the ability to vote of millions of Americans far more difficult. A college degree I'd not a guarantee of employment in the field you studied for, terrorism is a constant threat that the government has leveraged into forcing us into a sudo Cold War state only this time with a nation-less enemy.

Economically much of the nation is still suffering from the recession, granted the drop of oil prices Is a much needed break for all of us but it's still going to be years before that benefit yields bud (MMJ joke there), Wall Street continues to go unpunished for 08 still, many college kids have crushing debt that frankly can't be paid off at the current pay, cost of living continued to be decades behind what it should be.

Militarily we're spending more then the next half dozen nations combined yet can't seem to find enough cash to take care of our vets let alone pay them to support their families yet we outsource to Merced who charge fortunes for a few months. It took us over ten years to hunt down and kill binladin yet the war has marches on.

Politically our government is so split dorm party lines it frankly brings thoughts of the north and south to mind and I'd do bad the president has been forced to use executive power to the extent of almost the level of a king.

Frankly, our leaders have failed us on such an epic level that the country is heading towards imploding and we're coming the point of either a bloodless revolution via political reform of the system significant enough to get things back on track or, the more bloody option. Which given the tools at disposal of both the civilian and military, would be very, very, devastating and given the anger towards the upper class, I will not be surprised if America has its own French Revolution if it goes that way.

 

[stones55]

Bernie Sanders makes sense on A LOT OF FRONTS. And any "anti-socialism" heads out there don't want to admit that we already have socialistic practices in our society already. No one, including Bernie is touting the need for a purely socialistic society BUT there IS such a thing as a socialized democracy or democratic socialism ---- we've got it already, and it attempts to distribute wealth a bit more evenly, WITHOUT it being a handout.

Don't be scared into tuning out terms like "socialism" or "socialistic" ----- we're living it everyday already.

I'm and Independent and ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to fall prey to party lines. I, like many, many citizens today, WANT A REAL CHANGE and a career politician is NOT going to get us there. I certainly realize that both the right and left wings ARE WINGS ON THE SAME BIRD but we have to BELIEVE that positive changes CAN happen ---- and I just don't see it with these career politicians. Yes --- Bernie's been in this game for quite a while, but at least he makes some calm and collected sense of this mess we're in.

Listen to him sometime ---- he refused to play the game that all other candidates on both sides play. The mud-slinging, the outright lies, the bashing of anything that can be bashed upon a candidate, etc. , etc. He's got a "sensibility" about him.

Is this just another election to choose the "lesser of all the evils" ? Maybe ---- maybe no different than any other election year. But maybe --- just maybe --- there truly IS someone that can get in there and be somewhat effective in making sense of all the issues and bestow a calm and constructive "team" of representatives that will work TOGETHER.

I may not know much, but I DO know one thing ---- this two-party system blows. You NEVER know what a candidate truly wants to say (at least most of them) because they have to stay within the "parameters" of what their PARTY stands for.

Instead of standing up for what your PARTY stands for ----DAMN IT ---- stand up for what YOU stand for !!!

What a thought !

 

[Takelababy]

In many cases, municipal police are taking a hand's-off on the mj but it's the state police who crack down on it. In Canada it's the federal RCMP because mj use isn't legal as yet. When it comes to politics there is no lesser of all evils. The policies were written a long time ago and it matters not who the mouthpiece is as that's all he is, a mouthpiece. Not a word comes out of his mouth without the approval of the party and their speech writers. Don't think presidents haven't had personal issues with regulations but they are powerless to do anything about it.

 

[Auggie]

Stones ... I remember, as a teen ager (I am 62) my father saying that by the time I was his age I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the US and the USSR. it is happening.

One thing you want to think about is this. One of the big points that Mein Fuerer Trump has is building a wall to protect our southern borders. Why are these people leaving their country? That's easy ... because their country is poor. Food shortages, unavailable health care. no jobs. What kind of gov't do their home countries have? Argentina, Columbia, Uraguay, Venezuela, even Mexico -- Socialist.

As you noted, we have been moving closer to Socialism every year. Inversely we have been getting poorer. The more communist we go, the worse it gets. You want to accelerate that?

Its ok with me, really. As I said, I am 62 years old. Comrade Bernie will take good care of me till I die. Everything will be 'free'. And, since I'm not earning - I won't be paying taxes. You kids out there think that Socialism is such a great thing -- go live in Cuba, Greece, even Norway and check out how green the grass really is on the other side of the fence.

This country was not founded and made the GREATEST COUNTRY THIS PLANET HAS EVER SEEN, by giving things away for nothing. We have always had to EARN it.

Those days are over.
I mourn for my country.

 

[cleanslate]

I usually avoid getting into political discussions on the internet because they tend to be divisive and because politics is about power. Power over others is a brute fact of reality on this planet but it is also inimical to life on this planet. Sure politics is a more benign way to distribute power among us without resorting to thuggery and oppressive force but it still results in those with power and the powerless; winners and losers; the have mores and the haves less.

The first election I was old enough to really understand the issues at stake was the 1972 Nixon/McGovern contest. Since then I have become increasingly jaded with the political process in the United States as both parties became just two factions of the corporate/plutocratic party. The Democrats abandoned the ideals of the New Deal and became Republican lites with pro big corporation, Wall Street policies and the Republicans moved further to the right towards outright fascist policies in order to differentiate themselves from the Republican lite Democrats.

I have never seen a presidential campaign like the one we are witnessing now. Clearly, a tidal wave of discontent is emerging from the grassroots. The popularity of non-establishment candidates like Trump and Sanders is overturning all the assumptions held by the establishment and the pundits. Trump is a lose cannon that the Republican establishment can not reign in. Sanders has said things about the true nature of the descent of American democracy into a "Blade Runner" dsytopian corporatocracy that have not been said in decades by a presidential candidate. He correctly raises an alarm over the absolute economic and political power that is concentrated in the hands of very small elite.

For the first time in decades I find myself inspired by the rhetoric and vision of a candidate, Bernie Sanders. Why is a 74 year old man getting the base of his support from young people under 30? Because they have the most to lose if the status quo is not overturned and the slide into a dystopian future is not reversed. When he speaks he speaks of "us" and not "me, myself and I" as Trump and Hillary often do. He appeals to our innate better nature that yearns for justice and equity over greed and narcissism; empathy over power and domination and seeing the interdependent wholeness of life on this planet over fear, fragmentation and survival of the fittest.

The vision that Berni Sanders is trying to articulate is not unlike the the gifts that cannabis imparts. Bernie Sanders sees the need for a healthy society working cooperatively for universal benefit and not a collection of individuals seeking to maximize their own gain and self-interests at the expense of others. Cannabis heals the sick and broken not by imposing a cure or "fix" on the person but healing and harmonizing (homeostasis) the whole person, body and mind, with no collateral damage to one's health. It opens our minds to the feelings and needs of others and to the larger universal consciousness that permeates all things. It is about empathy and not power; giving and sharing and not just acquiring as much as we can and being parsimonious -- hoarding it all like Smaug the dragon.

Bernie Sanders is the only presidential candidate, ever, who has called for not just re-scheduling of cannabis but removing it from the Controlled Substances List entirely. He has put forth a senate bill to end Federal prohibition of cannabis but not one other Senator, even from one of the four states that have legalized it, has the courage to co-sponsor it with him.

In the long run it is not about Capitalism vs Socialism; winners vs losers or who holds the reigns of power. It is about whether life will continue to thrive on this planet. Human civilization with its psychopathic drive to dominate and exploit everything on this planet without restraint for its own insane self-centered agenda is running headlong into the sixth great extinction event (the second Great Dying) of its own making.

But a true Apocalypse (unveiling, revealing) is happening. The true nature of things are being revealed, the good and the bad, the fraudulent and the authentic. The lies, misdirection and intimidation of the powers of this world are being disarmed by the the free exchange of information and ideas on the internet. It is peer-to-peer sharing of ideas and not handed down from on high from corporate media and government propaganda. The truth of cannabis is being revealed and no amount of authoritative corporate/government propaganda can hide it from view. The truth about "power over others" is being shown to be the grand delusion that only leads to death and extinction. The truth is about life and empathy overcoming death and power -- even almighty power.

 

[Auggie]

"Why is a 74 year old man getting the base of his support from young people under 30?"

That's easy. It's because the under 30 year olds were not educated in history. They don't know about what brought down the Roman Empire in 150 AD because they weren't taught history. They don't know about what the causes of WW2 was because they weren't taught history. They don't know about the revolution in Cuba, why it happened, what the effects have been on their people -- because they weren't taught history.

What they DO know is that someone is promising them "Free and Easy". I listen to Bernie's speeches -- who would NOT vote for him? And I believe that HE believes what he is saying. But then, I think that Stalin believed in his cause too, a socialist cause. He wasn't lying either. Find out what happened to the people of Russia after the revolution ... 1917 wasn't it? Pretty brutal.

I remember standing at Checkpoint Charley as a 16 yr old kid. Looking up and down the wall while waiting my turn for admittance to East Berlin. The difference in walking that 100 yards was night and day. On one side was new cars, busy streets, bustling people. Trees and flowers and shrubs. On the other was shades of gray. Dingy houses, pot holes in streets, old and few cars. People with eyes cast down - didn't want to talk to Americans (they were afraid to). Now its Americans that are afraid to speak freely. There are words that just can NOT be used. I was raised to believe, and taught IN SCHOOL, that a free American can say anything he wants - right or wrong. Inflammatory or insulting ... freedom. Not true any more. I have to be careful about if I'm talking to someone gay, a female, and ... or black lives matter THE MOST. Bullshit. Back when this was a free country you could believe any thing you wanted, you were only judged on your actions. Not true any more -- what you BELIEVE is most important now, not what you do. But then, few actually DO anything any more, safer I guess to do nothing and complain and beg Burnie for freebies.

You'll see the change. If you're young enough - unfortunately ... I think you will see.

~ Auggie ~

 

[SweetSue]

They're all out there talking the big talk, but you notice Cannabis is still Schedule One.

That says it all. Until that changes this is all smoke and mirrors. Once that changes you won't be able to reign in the speed of change that will follow. Right now it's just the monkey dance for votes.

 

[cleanslate]

They're all out there talking the big talk, but you notice Cannabis is still Schedule One.

That says it all. Until that changes this is all smoke and mirrors. Once that changes you won't be able to reign in the speed of change that will follow. Right now it's just the monkey dance for votes.

Not one of candidates on the Republican side, or Hillary, has said anything remotely suggesting they support legalization at the Federal level. Sanders has not only said that he would move toward full descheduling of cannabis from the CSA, he has also authored a Senate bill to legalize cannabis. That is a significant step beyond "big talk."

 

[OlderGrower]

For all of you who hate socialism and would prefer not to live in a socialistic country please feel free to mail your social security checks to me I will be happy to take them off your hands. Please do not forget to sign them. Also if you get laid off from your job, do not forget to mail me your unemployment checks, we would not you to feel you live in a socialistic country.

For you who have not figured it out already, America is a socialistic country, but for you who hate that idea, please send me those checks.