October 23, 2014

Federal Senator Says He Will Vote ‘Yes’ On Marijuana Legalization

October 23, 2014
jeff merkley marijuana oregon senator

jeff merkley marijuana oregon senatorThere are a number of United States Representatives that have expressed support for marijuana legalization. What was once considered political suicide (supporting marijuana legalization), is not becoming more and more common. However, getting a United States Senator to express support for marijuana legalization has been much more rare. I am proud to say that one of my U.S. Senators, Jeff Merkley, has not only expressed support for marijuana legalization, he says that he intends to vote ‘yes’ on it during the 2014 Election. Per Talking Points Memo:

Sen. Jeff Merkley says he plans to vote for a ballot measure on Election Day to legalize marijuana in Oregon.

“I lean in support of it,” the Democratic senator told TPM in an interview on Wednesday.

“I think folks on both sides of the argument make a good case,” Merkley said. “And there is concern about a series of new products — and we don’t have a real track record from Colorado and Washington. But I feel on balance that we spend a lot of money on our criminal justice system in the wrong places and I lean in favor of this ballot measure.”

I’m hopeful that this leads to more United States Senators coming out of the ‘marijuana closet.’ I know there has to be many, many more Senators that support marijuana reform, and even likely consume marijuana. We just needed one to step up, which has happened, and now I’m sure it will encourage others to follow once they see that such a move is more popular than staying silent or expressing direct opposition to reform.

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