Which Presidential Candidates Support Marijuana Legalization?

[Jacob Redmond]

With a majority of citizens now favoring legalization of medical marijuana, none of the presidential candidates are sporting Legalize Marijuana t-shirts or lapel pins. Joel Warner of the International Business Times (IBT) published an article on July 1, 2015 about Senator Rand Paul attending a fund raiser in Denver, CO that brought in about $100,000 from marijuana investors. Senator Paul is like a lot of presidential candidates, and members of Congress in general, that are willing to take campaign money from many sources, but don't necessarily want to appear to support the causes of the contributors.*edit*

Marijuana legalization is rapidly moving in the same direction as same-gender marriages. The people are driving the bus on many issues as Congress continues to do very little in many key areas that are constrained by the wishes of their Super PAC contributors. The issue of prior marijuana use is not a major issue for current political candidates, but being a legalization supporter is a major obstacle among older, conservative GOP voters.

The American Prospect published the results of a Gallup poll that shows that a majority supports the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana. Marijuana has been used as part of indigenous medical treatments for over 5,000 years. It is far more effective for long-term pain management in Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome, for preventing nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer and HIV, and for reducing seizures with fewer side effects than pharmaceutical drugs.

It should be noted that Governor John Kasich and Attorney General Mike DeWine have stated their opposition to legalization of medical and recreational marijuana use. Kasich said marijuana would not be legalized in Ohio if he had anything to do with it. He then compared marijuana to prescription narcotics.*edit* The Marijuana Policy Project rated the presidential candidates on an alphabetic scale. Rand Paul got an A-. Bernie Sanders and Rick Perry got a B. Hillary Clinton got a B-. The rest of the crowd from the GOP and Joe Biden got grades ranging from C to D. Chris Christie and Rick Santorum were graded F. Read the article to see where the candidates are rated. John Kasich hasn't formally declared yet, but you can assume he will probably be rated as a D- given that he has said he will support a state law for medical or recreational marijuana if the law is passed.

In the end, the tax revenues realized by Colorado and Washington will overcome other states' opposition to marijuana legalization for medical and recreational use. Marijuana is the safest of the mood altering drugs available when used by adults not driving an automobile or performing tasks such as operating heavy equipment of manufacturing equipment. Marijuana is also a factor in lung health depending upon the tar content of the drug. Petitions have been submitted to Attorney General DeWine to put marijuana legalization on the November 2015 ballot. If you have an interest in this subject, get to the polls to vote in whatever way your preference dictates.

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[VladimirPutin]

Captain Obvious says : "Presidential sock puppets don't want to give all 50 states legal cannabis based on 2 reasons.

#1. The overpaid police farce will lose valuable state income riding on the backs of citizens who've forfeited their homes, their cars, their bank accounts, and a piece of their future pay checks.

#2. Big Pharma Petroleum Tobacco and Alcohol would stop injecting "donations" into elected officials for the purpose of molding civilian laws to benefit corporations."

Wake up United States. 300,000,000 domestically owned guns, but your best weapon is your vote. Don't vote in 2016. It's not worth it. Demand a government change from the ground up. Glasnost US Government

Vlad

 

[Nalaeyak]

Just FYI no police department is over paid nor can they file for forfeiture of any personal property on 99% of marijuana cases. In fact there is a web site for law enforcement to simply legalize drugs in general. Arresting someone for possession of mj takes police off the street for several hours while real crime is happening. You ask any reasonable police officer and they will tell you it's something they would rather not mess with. However, there are the wanna be soldiers in the emerald triangle who love dressing up in military garb and raid large pot fields. These guys love this but generally it's not a priority for most police trust me I know. That said, I'm tired of this peace meal crap from state to state, we need a president who will just decriminalize mj and stop this madness.

 

[VladimirPutin]

I still remember the last "hope and change" campaign 8 years ago by presidential candidate homobama, I mean Obama. I guess that's the true meaning of "The American Dream", it can only exist while sleeping. I too hope the USA can come back from its steep decline. I hope the casino clown doesn't get to run the show in 2016.

Vlad