Election 2016: The Candidates on Cannabis

The 2016 Presidential election is shaping up to be one of the strangest in America’s history. And for cannabis enthusiasts, it’s pivotal. Legalization has gone mainstream and become a campaign talking point for every candidate. It’s hard to believe Hillary Clinton recently sat down with Jimmy Kimmel and discussed declassifying marijuana as a “Schedule 1” narcotic. And then there’s Presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, former CEO of a medical marijuana business and an out and open cannabis user. It’s amazing, and about time.

Most of the candidates support declassifying marijuana. This would reduce bulging prison populations and allow more research. But Dr. Jill Stein (Green Party), and Gary Johnson (Libertarian) go a step further and support full-on legalization at the federal level.

Donald Trump (Republican), on the other hand, is a little harder to pin down on the subject. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2015, he had these words of wisdom, “I’d say [regulating marijuana] is bad. Medical marijuana is another thing, but I think it’s bad and I feel strongly about that. [Moderator: “What about the states’ right aspect of it?”] If they vote for it, they vote for it… But I think, medical marijuana, 100%.” C-SPAN, June 23, 2015.

Here’s a quick glance at the candidates’ positions on legalization. Mull it over (perhaps with the help of a nice indica buzz).

Let’s keep the momentum going toward nation-wide legalization. Let’s choose wisely and elect a President who will decriminalize people like you and me. If you need to, toke on a nice Bigfoot pre-roll and let your highness be your guide

Though not an endorsement, I’ll leave you with this from Dr. Jill Stein, who may be able to articulate the needs of the cannabis community better than any other candidate:

“It’s time to take marijuana off the black market, end crime and violence related to marijuana trafficking, stop wasting money and ruining lives by prosecuting victimless crimes, reduce prison populations, increase tax revenue, allow sick people their medicine, let farmers grow marijuana and hemp, and give responsible adults their freedom by legalizing it!

Sources:

http://www.jill2016.com/legalizeit

https://www.mpp.org/2016-presidential-candidates

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-cOmrBWydA