 The Washington, DC think-tank, The Brookings Institution, analyzed candidates seeking federal office and found that the overwhelming majority of them refuse to publicly weigh in on the issue of cannabis legalization.
Brookings researchers analyzed publicly stated views of over 2,300 candidates running in US Congressional primaries, and reported, “The vast majority of candidates (81.4 percent) made no mention of cannabis reform at all on their websites and social media.” Brookings researches also pointed out that this ambiguous stance clashes with the clear national popularity of cannabis reform by voters. Their researchers said that voters, “… should be pushing legislators to make clear statements of support for reform.” Paul Armentano, who is the Deputy Director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML responded to this research by saying: “Voters’ views on the subject of legalizing and regulating cannabis have evolved significantly over the past decades; however, the views of those seeking to represent them in Congress have not kept pace with this seismic shift in public opinion. Candidates’ failure to advocate for marijuana policy reform is a missed opportunity, as this is a unique issue that unites voters irrespective of party affiliation.” And he’s right! The number of voters from all political parties who support cannabis legalization keep rising. Polls from Gallup and others show over and over that the majority of all voters, nearly 3/4ths, support legalizing marijuana for recreational use in adults. The support for medical use is even higher, with more than 90 percent of Americans saying that medical marijuana should be legal. Among the relatively few political candidates who do state their position on cannabis, a clear difference was noted. Researchers found that, “Although more than 90 percent of Republican candidates failed to mention cannabis at all, 4.1 percent of them staked out an anti-cannabis reform position. On the other hand, only three of the 962 Democratic primary candidates (0.3 percent) opposed reform.” The Brookings analysis concludes: “In sum, cannabis as a political issue has risen in importance over the past 25 years … the issue has become more popular … [however], most candidates for federal office do not see cannabis as an issue prominent enough to discuss, and deep partisan differences still remain among elected officials, even as support for cannabis in the general public has exploded in recent years.” Commenting on the study’s conclusions, NORML’s Political Director Morgan Fox said: “The underlying message of this study is clear. Voters must let their elected and prospective federal representatives know that this issue is important to them. Despite many of the cannabis policy reforms…being highly popular issues among voters, such legislation continues to be a low priority for all but a few lawmakers. Voters across the country need to show lawmakers that they benefit from publicly supporting and prioritizing sensible cannabis policies, and that they will face political consequences for inaction or obstruction.” Full text of the report, “Congressional candidates’ silence on cannabis reform,” is available from The Brookings Institution. Additional information on candidates and elected officials’ positions on cannabis policy is available from NORML’s voter guide, Smoke the Vote. Comments are closed.
|
RSS Feed