A leading marijuana reform group has unveiled its voter guides for next month\u2019s gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, offering overviews of the candidates\u2019 cannabis policy records and assigning them a grade accordingly.<\/p>\n
The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said that, ahead of the November election, the guides can help voters identify which candidates are most likely to advance a reform agenda and who might represent a threat to those efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Election Day quickly approaching, voters across the country will soon have an opportunity to cast ballots that will shape prospects for cannabis policy reform for years to come,\u201d Karen O\u2019Keefe, MPP\u2019s director of state policies, said in a press release on Tuesday. \u201cOur goal is to educate voters on where candidates stand on cannabis policy reform so that they can cast informed votes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Voters in 11 states will be electing governors next month, and there are 34 Senate seats on the ballot. And while marijuana legalization enjoys sizable bipartisan support among the public, the guides reveal significant divides on the issue within many of those races.<\/p>\n
For example, in Florida, incumbent Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) earned an F grade for consistently opposing even modest medical cannabis legislation in the Senate, moving to ban smokeable medical marijuana while serving as governor and planning to vote against a statewide adult-use cannabis legalization initiative at the ballot next month.<\/p>\n
In contrast, MPP gave his opponent, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), an A grade. She supports the Florida legalization measure, voted in favor of a congressional bill to end federal marijuana prohibition and said she also backs proposals to provide cannabis industry access to the banking system, for example.<\/p>\n
In response to an MPP survey<\/a> that supplemented the guides, she said: \u201cHere in Florida, Black farmers have been shut out of farming industries such as medical marijuana and have faced higher application fees for farming licenses. That\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition to supporting Florida\u2019s Amendment 3 to legalize recreational marijuana for adults, I\u2019ll use my platform to ensure that Black farmers in our state have equal access to grants to grow marijuana in our state,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Additionally, with 34 Senate seats on the ballot this year, November\u2019s election is key to the prospects for federal reform. Check out our U.S. Senate voter guide to see where candidates stand on cannabis policy reform. https:\/\/t.co\/OokPTU0GJ7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Marijuana Policy Project (@MarijuanaPolicy) October 8, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Not every race shows such a wide schism, however.<\/p>\n In Maine, for instance, incumbent Sen. Angus King (I) and his GOP challenger, former state Sen. Eric Brakey (R), both have A- grades. King supports federal legalization, cannabis banking reform and rescheduling, while Brakey backed Maine\u2019s 2016 adult-use legalization ballot measure and sponsored other proposals such as allowing medical marijuana access in hospitals. The Democratic candidate, David Costello, has an incomplete record.<\/p>\n For marijuana advocates, the outcome of the Senate races is of particular interest, as cannabis reform has consistently stalled out in the chamber\u2014due in large part to the need for 60 votes to overcome a potential filibuster threat. Marijuana banking legislation moved through a Senate committee last year, but it\u2019s yet to reach the floor amid concerns that it doesn\u2019t currently have the votes to advance.<\/p>\n With respect to the gubernatorial races, meanwhile, similar themes played out in the MPP guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n In New Hampshire, the A-graded Democratic candidate, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig (D), has voiced support for legalization, expungements and limited home grow options for adults. The GOP candidate, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), opposes legalization and recently attacked Craig for suggesting tax revenue from legal cannabis sales could fund housing and schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n North Carolina\u2019s gubernatorial race could also prove key to the prospects of reform getting enact in the coming session. The state legislature has struggled to advance even a conservative, GOP-led medical cannabis legalization bill over recent years.<\/p>\n On the Democratic side, the candidate, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D), has gotten behind decriminalization and medical marijuana legalization. And he feels the measure that\u2019s so far stalled in the legislature is too restrictive, earning him an A grade. The GOP candidate, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), has said he\u2019s \u201cconflicted\u201d about medical marijuana but open to a discussion. MPP assigned him a D grade.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, marijuana policy issues have also been raised at the presidential level. In a historic first, both major party candidates\u2014Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump\u2014are in favor of ending criminalization.<\/p>\n Late last month was the first time since becoming the party\u2019s presidential nominee that Harris reiterated her support for marijuana legalization,<\/a> after sponsoring a bill to end prohibition during her time in the Senate and privately backing the reform during a roundtable event with marijuana pardon recipients in March.<\/p>\n \u201cI just feel strongly, people should not be going to jail for smoking weed,\u201d she said in an interview with the All the Smoke podcast. \u201cAnd we know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSecond, I just think we have come to a point where we have to understand that we need to legalize it and stop criminalizing this behavior,\u201d Harris told hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, who are former NBA players and\u00a0one of whom later admitted that he smoked cannabis before the interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cActually this is not a new position for me,\u201d she said. \u201cI have felt for a long time we need to legalize it. So that\u2019s where I am on that.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, last month\u00a0Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz said he thinks marijuana legalization is an issue that should be left to individual states<\/a>, adding that electing more Democrats to Congress could also make it easier to pass federal reforms like cannabis banking protections.<\/p>\n Trump, for his part, said recently during his campaign for a second term that he now supports federal marijuana rescheduling and marijuana banking access.<\/p>\n \u201cAs President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens,\u201d Trump posted to social media earlier this month.<\/p>\n Trump also recently discussed the medical benefits<\/a>\u00a0of cannabis and said legalization would be \u201cvery good\u201d for Florida, which will consider the reform at the ballot box in November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n The Harris\u2013Walz campaign, however, has\u00a0accused Trump of lying about his support for marijuana reform<\/a>\u2014arguing that his \u201cblatant pandering\u201d runs counter to his administration\u2019s record on cannabis.<\/p>\n Following Trump\u2019s recent announcement of support for the Florida cannabis legalization ballot measure, the Democratic campaign has been working to remind voters that while in office,\u00a0Trump \u201ctook marijuana reform backwards.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In a memo from a senior campaign spokesperson, the Harris-Walz campaign accused Trump of \u201cbrazen flip flops\u201d on cannabis, saying it\u2019s one of the Republican former president\u2019s \u201cseveral bewildering \u2018policy proposals\u2019 that deserve real scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n The posturing by the presidential candidates comes amid an ongoing process of moving marijuana to the less-restrictive Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).<\/p>\n The Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) this spring recommended moving the drug to Schedule III, but the action has faced resistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which has\u00a0scheduled a hearing on the proposal for December 2<\/a>\u2014after the presidential election,\u00a0raising concerns that the process will not be completed<\/a>\u00a0until after a new president is inaugurated.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Trump also recently\u00a0went after Harris over her prosecutorial record on marijuana<\/a>, claiming that she put \u201cthousands and thousands of Black people in jail\u201d for cannabis offenses\u2014but the full record of her time in office is more nuanced.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s line of attack, while misleading, was nonetheless notable in the sense that the GOP presidential nominee implied that he disagrees with criminalizing people over marijuana and is moving to leverage the idea that Harris played a role in racially disproportionate mass incarceration.<\/p>\n As president, Trump largely stayed true to his position that marijuana laws should be handled at the state-level, with no major crackdown on cannabis programs as some feared after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama era federal enforcement guidance. In fact, Trump\u00a0criticized the top DOJ official and suggested the move should be reversed<\/a>.<\/p>\n While he was largely silent on the issue of legalization, he did tentatively endorse a bipartisan bill to\u00a0codify federal policy respecting states\u2019 rights to legalize<\/a>.<\/p>\n That said, on several occasions he released signing statements on spending legislation stipulating that he\u00a0reserved the right to ignore a long-standing rider<\/a>\u00a0that prohibits the Justice Department from\u00a0using its funds to interfere with state-legal medical marijuana programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before President Joe Biden bowed out of the race, his campaign made much of the president\u2019s mass cannabis pardons and rescheduling push,\u00a0drawing a contrast with the Trump administration\u2019s record<\/a>. The Harris campaign so far has not spoken to that particular issue, and the nominee has yet to publicly discuss marijuana policy issues since her own campaign launched.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t Go To Las Vegas\u2019s New Immersive Sphere Arena While High On Drugs, Kamala Harris Tells Howard Stern<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Democracy Chronicles<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Marijuana On The Ballot: Where Candidates For U.S. Senate And State Governor\u2019s Races Stand On Legalization<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A leading marijuana reform group has unveiled its voter guides for next month\u2019s gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races, offering overviews of the candidates\u2019 cannabis policy records and assigning them a grade accordingly. The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said that, ahead of the November election, the guides can help voters identifyContinue 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],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78230"}],"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=78230"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78231,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78230\/revisions\/78231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Marijuana On The Ballot: Where Candidates For U.S. Senate And State Governor\u2019s Races Stand On Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"