{"id":66099,"date":"2023-06-21T11:25:10","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T19:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/06\/21\/chris-christie-vows-to-end-the-drug-war-if-elected-president-but-only-partially\/"},"modified":"2023-06-21T19:46:39","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T03:46:39","slug":"chris-christie-vows-to-end-the-drug-war-if-elected-president-but-only-partially","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2023\/06\/21\/chris-christie-vows-to-end-the-drug-war-if-elected-president-but-only-partially\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Christie Vows To \u2018End\u2019 The Drug War If Elected President\u2014But Only Partially"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a Republican 2024 presidential candidate<\/a>, says that he would \u201cend\u201d the war on drugs if elected, emphasizing the need for a treatment-based approach to people experiencing addiction\u2014while at the same time maintaining that he\u2019d seek to increase enforcement against those who sell drugs.<\/p>\n

During a recent town hall event hosted by CNN, a mother who said her son is in jail after struggles with fentanyl asked Christie what he would \u201cdo about the war on drugs, which has obviously failed so miserably.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEnd it,\u201d the former federal prosecutor replied, despite his opposition to marijuana legalization and previous pledges to enforce prohibition in legal states during his 2016 presidential run.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to focus on treatment. Look, your son\u2014and I don\u2019t want to pretend to know him, but I know a lot of people have gone through this. And I\u2019ve had some dear friends who have lost their life to this,\u201d Christie said. \u201cHe has a disease the same way heart disease, diabetes, cancer. It is a disease, and he can be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI still want to make sure we try to interdict as much fentanyl coming across our border as we can,\u201d he said. \u201cI would use the National Guard to try to do that, to enhance that. That part of the war on drugs, to lower supply, should continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the idea that incarcerating someone is going to make them not become an addict is ridiculous,\u201d Christie said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s been proven to be wrong, because you know what happens? They get drugs in jail. And so let\u2019s be real about this. And let\u2019s stop stigmatizing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former governor, who also served on an opioid-focused commission under the Trump administration, then offered an interesting comparison between how the country treats people who are addicted to tobacco versus those who use currently illegal drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother was an addict. She was addicted to nicotine. She started smoking when she was 16, and she died at 71 of lung cancer,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd when she got diagnosed, no one came to me and said, \u2018well, she\u2019s known since 1964 it could cause cancer. She got what she deserved.\u2019 And I never tried to hide my mother\u2019s illness from anybody. I wasn\u2019t ashamed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what if my mother was a heroin addict rather than a nicotine addict?\u201d he continued. \u201cThink I would have told everybody? Think people would have rushed to her aid? We have to change that dynamic. And a president can change that dynamic by talking about it\u2014by saying it\u2019s a disease and that your son needs the treatment that can help him to have the redemption I talked about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Beyond that personal connection to addiction, Christie said that his views on drug criminalization and addiction are based on his Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I want to be tough on crime\u2014and the dealers who are making money off this, you bet they should be penalized,\u201d he said. \u201cBut your son sitting in jail tonight, if his crime is that he was addicted and had enough to just feed his own addiction, in my view, he should be in treatment right now, learning how to cope with his addiction and to come home to you. That\u2019s what I\u2019d want as president, and that\u2019s what I\u2019ll fight for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments during the CNN event<\/a> last week offered more comprehensive insights into Christie\u2019s drug policy philosophy. But his position is also marked by seeming contradictions: He wants to \u201cend\u201d the drug war, but only parts of it\u2014and he strongly opposes cannabis legalization, even if he\u2019s somewhat come around to the idea of states\u2019 rights on the issue.<\/p>\n

Throughout his career, Christie has expressed his belief that cannabis is a gateway drug, that tax revenue from regulated sales amounts to \u201cblood money\u201d and that marijuana use inhibits productivity and endangers children.<\/p>\n

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New Hampshire Lawmakers Reach Deal On Creating Marijuana Commission To Formulate State-Run Sales Model<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post Chris Christie Vows To \u2018End\u2019 The Drug War If Elected President\u2014But Only Partially<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Chris Christie Vows To \u2018End\u2019 The Drug War If Elected President\u2014But Only Partially<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), a Republican 2024 presidential candidate, says that he would \u201cend\u201d the war on drugs if elected, emphasizing the need for a treatment-based approach to people experiencing addiction\u2014while at the same time maintaining that he\u2019d seek to increase enforcement against those who sell drugs.Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"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\/66099"}],"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=66099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66100,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66099\/revisions\/66100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}