Over the past several years, cannabis legalization has moved from a previously fringe issue to a dominant conversation in the 2020 Election. Democratic nominees for President have been tripping over themselves in recent months to prove just how much they support marijuana. Cory Booker, Beto O’Rourke, and Kamala Harris have all asserted some cannabis credentials in recent months, albeit with varying levels of success.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) recently told Marijuana Moment that this trend won’t change anytime soon. In fact Blumenauer, who’s been on the frontlines of national cannabis reform and legislation, said that supporting marijuana prohibition and demonizing users is an inevitably losing strategy in the political sector moving forward.
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“I don’t think there will ever be another president who will be anti-cannabis. It won’t happen,” Blumenauer said. “Either the Republicans or the Democrats. It is something that is supported overwhelmingly by the American public, it’s supported by a majority of Republicans and Democrats. It ain’t going to happen.”
That could spell trouble for someone like former Vice President Joe Biden. While he hasn’t announced he’s running for the Democratic nomination just yet, Biden has a history of being hard on cannabis and voting for anti-drug legislation.
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“Nobody is going to survive the nominating process who doesn’t have a reasonable position on cannabis,” Bluemenauer said when Marijuana Moment inquired regarding Biden’s anti-marijuana record. “They will not be nominated. I say that unequivocally.”
That, by the way, doesn’t discredit Donald Trump in the 2020 election. During his 2016 campaign, Trump said he supports medical marijuana “100 percent.” In addition, reports have surfaced that Trump blasted former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ marijuana obsession behind closed doors. He’s also voiced support for the STATES Act, which would provide federal protections for states to create their own systems of cannabis regulation. So while America might not ever vote for an anti-cannabis President again, that doesn’t exclude the one we already got.
