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The race for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania is putting drug policy reform in the spotlight, with the GOP candidate known best as Dr. Oz and the national Republican party evidently convinced that an effective line of attack is to challenge the Democratic nominee\u2019s support for issues like marijuana legalization and harm reduction policies.<\/p>\n
The contest between Mehmet Oz and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) has become something of a political spectacle, largely playing out on Twitter where the dueling campaigns have competed to score the best own on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
But in terms of substantive policy issues, the race has revealed a deep disconnect between how each candidate thinks voters feel about drug-related issues.<\/p>\n
Oz has lobbed attacks at Fetterman over his long record of supporting reform, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) has similarly seized on the issue, misleadingly casting the state official as a radical supporter of policies like legalizing heroin, for example.<\/p>\n
All of this is despite the fact that, in 2020, Oz himself called marijuana \u201cone of the most underused tools in America\u201d and said that the country should \u201ccompletely change our policy on marijuana.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In one new ad, Oz\u2019s campaign criticized Fetterman\u2019s support for cannabis legalization with an animated video that showed a bong coming out of the candidate\u2019s head. \u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d the narrator asks, coughing.<\/p>\n He\u2019s the most radical candidate in the country. pic.twitter.com\/Z2jr8yowos<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) August 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Oz, a celebrity doctor who long hosted a daytime TV show, also appeared on Fox News and made dismissive comments about the \u201cpot flag\u201d that the lieutenant governor hung on the balcony<\/a> of his Capitol office as he pushed for legalization in the Keystone State.<\/p>\n Oz: He\u2019s known for hanging a pot flag outside the window\u2026 I knew from the gay one, you work hard\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/bk2Lz2DyIw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Acyn (@Acyn) August 19, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) also talked about the marijuana flag last month, falsely claiming the lieutenant governor swapped it for the American flag.<\/p>\n Newt Gingrich (falsely) claims John Fetterman replaced the American flag in his office at the Pennsylvania State Capitol with “the marijuana flag” and the “gay pride flag” \u2014 nikki mccann ram\u00edrez (@NikkiMcR) July 25, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n With numerous polls showing growing, bipartisan support for ending prohibition\u2014including one from last year that found 58 percent of Pennsylvanians back the policy<\/a>\u2014the idea that promoting an anti-legalization narrative would appeal to voters is questionable.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, RNC has also challenged Fetterman over drug policy reform proposals he\u2019s expressed openness to, including harm reduction programs like needle exchange and overdose prevention centers. The committee\u2019s research arm clipped audio from a 2018 interview with the lieutenant governor, where he talked about those policies as possible tools to combat the opioid overdose crisis.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m For Decriminalizing Across The Board\u2019: John Fetterman Has Repeatedly Nodded To Woke Drug Policyhttps:\/\/t.co\/fi1sWQVqW4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 18, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Again, national polling shows majority, bipartisan support for harm reduction policies<\/a> such as safe consumption sites and needle exchange. It\u2019s an issue that Pennsylvania voters may be more familiar with than most, as a non-profit\u2019s attempt to open an overdose prevention center in Philadelphia has been dragged into court following a legal challenge by the Justice Department under the Trump administration.<\/p>\n The RNC post misleadingly suggests that the candidate has called for for legalizing heroin\u2014but, before the clip was cut off, Fetterman was talking about his conversations about responding to the opioid crisis with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where he said a political staffer seemed to have misinterpreted his policy stance in that way.<\/p>\n In reality, the official has voiced support for decriminalizing drug possession to center substance misuse as a public health issue, rather than a criminal legal problem.<\/p>\n But even Fetterman\u2019s decriminalization position has permeated into conservative media, characterized as an example of a problematically \u201cwoke\u201d<\/a> policy. For what it\u2019s worth, 60 percent of Pennsylvanians said they support drug decriminalization<\/a> in a May 2021 poll.<\/p>\n In any case, the Democratic nominee hasn\u2019t shied away from his drug policy reform platform. For example, he\u2019s commented on his jealousy<\/a> that New Jersey cannabis sales launched while Pennsylvania has yet to enact legalization and he\u2019s persisted<\/a> in making people aware of an expedited pardon process he\u2019s championed for people with \u201cbullshit\u201d marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n The official, who serves as chair of the state Board of Pardons, has said that one of his key goals in his final year in office is to ensure that as many eligible people as possible submit applications\u00a0to have the courts\u00a0remove their cannabis records and restore opportunities<\/a>\u00a0to things like housing, student financial aid and employment through an expedited petition program.<\/p>\n When the Pennsylvania BOP convenes next week, we\u2019ll approve many more. <\/p>\n Serving up a 2nd Chance in PA- for FREE. <\/p>\n Get your app in now. \u2014 John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 26, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cThis is a plant that\u2019s legal in many jurisdictions across America, and it\u2019s not a big deal, but you go through your life in many cases a convicted felon, and that excludes you from a lot of opportunities,\u201d he said prior to announcing his Senate run. \u201cSo I developed an expedited review process that I encourage everybody to partake in.\u201d<\/p>\n As a general matter, Oz has also sought to depict<\/a> Fetterman as a soft-on-crime candidate. For example, he\u2019s misleadingly suggested that the Democrat wants to release one-third of the state\u2019s prison population, when the official had quoted the head of the Department of Corrections, who said that could be accomplished without risk to the public.<\/p>\n After Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) endorsed marijuana legalization, Fetterman also led a statewide listening tour<\/a> to hear what residents had to say about the policy proposal. He touted his role in that tour on his Senate campaign website.<\/p>\n He also talked about his work to \u201clegalize weed for jobs, justice, veterans, farmers and revenue\u201d in a fundraising email early this year.<\/p>\n Fetterman previously said that farmers in his state could grow better marijuana than people in New Jersey<\/a>\u2014and that was one reason why Pennsylvania should expeditiously reform its cannabis laws.<\/p>\n In 2020, he hosted a virtual forum where he got advice on how to effectively implement a cannabis system<\/a>\u00a0from the lieutenant governors of Illinois and Michigan, which have enacted legalization.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, as Oz attacks Fetterman over cannabis reform, he\u2019s personally touted the therapeutic potential of marijuana and called for a fundamental reshaping of federal cannabis policy.<\/p>\n He also said that representatives from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have each told him they\u2019re on board with legalizing marijuana\u2014and that the agencies blame each other for blocking efforts to end prohibition.<\/p>\n \u201c[Marijuana is] a lot safer than alcohol. It\u2019s safer than narcotics. It ought to be used more widely and we can\u2019t even study it that easily because of the way it\u2019s regulated,\u201d Oz said.<\/p>\n Oz, who previously asserted that\u00a0marijuana could represent a tool to combat the opioid epidemic<\/a>\u00a0and has\u00a0made other public comments about the plant\u2019s therapeutic potential<\/a>, said he\u2019s \u201choping the federal government at some point\u2014someone\u2019s going to say, \u2018come on, this is a farce, open it up for the entire country.\u2019 That way, the right people can begin to prescribe it.\u201d<\/p>\n The celebrity doctor has separately clarified that he hasn\u2019t used cannabis and has not, despite one company\u2019s claim, endorsed a line of CBD products.<\/p>\n Could not agree more with @tomhanks<\/a>. This is a fake and misleading advertisement intended to take advantage of consumers using false claims and our likenesses illegally. I am not involved with any cannabis companies. https:\/\/t.co\/EBNvnh0jdM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) January 21, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cI have never smoked pot in my life, never gotten high, and I only bring that up because I\u2019m not someone who\u2019s saying this because I personally would use it,\u201d he previously said. \u201cI just, as a doctor, think it makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n D.C. Medical Marijuana Registrations Surged In July After \u2018Self-Certification\u2019 Law Took Effect, Data Shows<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo via Twitter\/Dr. Oz<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Dr. Oz Attacks Fetterman\u2019s Popular Marijuana Legalization Stance In Pennsylvania Senate Race, Despite Previously Endorsing Reform Himself<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The race for a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania is putting drug policy reform in the spotlight, with the GOP candidate known best as Dr. Oz and the national Republican party evidently convinced that an effective line of attack is to challenge the Democratic nominee\u2019s support for issues like marijuanaContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":56721,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56722,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56720\/revisions\/56722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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Fetterman never removed the American flag from his office. pic.twitter.com\/2xD7N6she9<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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https:\/\/t.co\/ni3ihX0qPX<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/5uIIHdPXrS<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: Dr. Oz Attacks Fetterman\u2019s Popular Marijuana Legalization Stance In Pennsylvania Senate Race, Despite Previously Endorsing Reform Himself<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"