2/11/18

Republicans scrambling to catch Democrats on legal cannabis

So, I’m a cannabis advocate for five western states and don’t know anybody who actually has to buy it.

Democrats in blue states already understand the added value to their campaigns but a red state Indianan gets it, too.
“We don’t need to give him another ounce of our brain-space,” Dan Canon told the crowd of 40 people, hitting the TV mute as President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech began. Students seem drawn to Canon in part because he was one of the plaintiff attorneys in the lawsuit that became Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage. They like his stances on raising the federal minimum wage and providing Medicare for all. But it’s his full-throated support for legalizing medical marijuana at the federal level that has distinguished him in the eyes of many young voters, who consider it a threshold for taking any politician seriously.
Read that here.

West Virginia is another red state where Democrats favor legal cannabis, so is Tennessee.
Voters would have another chance to weigh in on legalizing marijuana in Arizona under a proposal in the state House. The proposal from Republican Rep. Todd Clodfelter of Tucson and Democratic Rep. Mark Cardenas of Phoenix was announced Thursday. If approved by the House and Senate, it would be on November's ballot. [KNAU]
Legal cannabis has become a favorite in Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party gubernatorial primary, too. Even so-called 'moderate Democrats' are on board.

Democrats in Montana's legislature want better testing for contaminants in cannabis to better serve that state's 18,953 registered therapeutic cannabis patients and 616 providers.

In Nevada, Tribal Cannabis Consulting has established cannabis compacts with Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office and the Yerington Paiute, Ely Shoshone and Pyramid Lake Paiute tribes.

And in California tribal nations want compacts with the state.

Red state Alaska has a thriving cannabis industry.

North Dakota has adopted therapeutic cannabis.

A Kansas gubernatorial candidate's leading plank is legal cannabis.
Calling himself an anti-establishment candidate, 17-year-old Bergeson is pursuing the Democratic nomination, advocating for a $12 minimum wage, legalization of medical marijuana, and high-speed rail for major cities in the region. [NPR]
Here in New Mexico Republicans are watching their 2018 chances going up in smoke as the state's governor drags her feet.

Democrats are keenly aware that to energize millennials and a jaded base radical times call for sensible approaches to reforms of civil liberties for all adults.

Indian casinos are small banks. It's time for states to enter cannabis compacts with tribal nations.








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