May 10, 2018

Were the 2018 Primary Elections Good News for Cannabis Legalization?

May 10, 2018
Marijuana and blood pressure are related.
2018 gubernatorial primary elections are in and the prognosis for state and federal cannabis reform look good.

Where do the 2018 Primary Winners stand on Cannabis?

Marijuana Moment’s Kyle Jaeger put together a recap on where several of the primary winners stand on the subject and how their victories might affect legalization in the longer term.

The list includes races where marijuana issues were prominent.

Indiana U.S. Senate primary winner Republican Mike Braun thinks, “if a state wants to go to medical marijuana, it ought to be their prerogative” and that “states are a great laboratory,” indicating that if elected, he would not likely support federal prohibition, at least when it comes to MMJ.

This is good because Braun beat out two Republican challengers who are vociferously opposed to legalization.

Democratic incumbent, Senator Joe Donnelly, on the other hand, has a “D” rating from NORML for consistently opposing federal legislation to reform marijuana laws.

So, go figure. In the state that brought us VP Mike Pence, the Republican candidate is more pro-marijuana than the Democrat.

Ohio’s Gubernatorial Democratic winner was Richard Cordray, who has been sheepish about his stance on legalization but not so in his criticism of Ohio’s MMJ program. He says it has been poorly implemented but that he’d fix it and would respect voters if they decided to put forth another recreational weed proposal.

Republican winner in the Ohio governor’s primary, Mike DeWine, has been mum on MMJ although he has acknowledged that legalization could take it way from the black market. But, he thinks legalization would send a bad message to youth, that it’s a gateway drug, etc.

Rep. Jim Renacci, Ohio’s Senate Primary candidate, is anti-legalization all the way and has voted as such across the board, although he claims to be “closely watching” Ohio’s MMJ program.

Democratic incumbent, Senator Sherrod Brown, loved by many for stance on a plethora of progressive issues, has been wishy-washy on legalization, although his position on cannabis has evolvedover the years and he’s on the record defending MMJ.

West Virginia Senate Primary winner, Republican Patrick Morrisey is “open-minded” about MMJ but opposed to recreational weed.

Democratic winner for the Senate, Joe Manchin, has been booed for using the tired gateway drug theory but he’s finally dropped the nonsense and cast a voice vote againstspending for federal intervention in West Virginia’s MMJ laws.

In the West Virginia House Primary (District 3 and coal country), Democrat Richard Ojeda won the nomination hands down. The state senator and former Army veteran is decidedly pro-legalization. Ojeda is also an outspoken defender of West Virginia’s teachers who went on strike earlier this year.

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