During the debate, Ted Cruz made a joke about “Colorado Brownies.” But the issue of the War on Drugs didn’t really come up otherwise. We know that candidates like John Kasich, Jeb Bush, and Rand Paul have called for a new approach, suggesting that we allow states to make these decisions, while Chris Christie, Marco Rubio and others strike a harder line on drugs. But what about Trump? Well now we’ve got an answer:
Donald Trump softened his tone on marijuana legalization on Thursday, saying at a political rally that states should be allowed to legalize marijuana if they chose to do so. Trump reaffirmed that he supports making medical marijuana available to patients who are very sick.
“In terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state,” Trump said while taking a handful of questions during a political rally at a casino outside Reno on Thursday afternoon.
His comments came hours after the third Republican debate was held in Colorado, which legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2012. That same day, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said he wants to remove marijuana from the federal government’s list of most dangerous outlawed drugs, which would make it easier for states to legalize it.
Trump — who says he doesn’t drink or smoke tobacco, let alone experiment with drugs — has taken a variety of stances on drug control. In April 1990, Trump said at a luncheon in Florida that the United States should legalize drugs and use the money collected to educate the public on the dangers of drug use.
“We’re losing badly the war on drugs,” Trump said at the time, according to an article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “You have to legalize drugs to win that war. You have to take the profit away from these drug czars.”
Trump’s is often tarred as the candidate of the crazy, extreme wing of the party, but his position seems grounded in the common sense experience and sentiment of many ordinary Americans. His success has been a product of understanding where the mind of the American people is, and that he’s embraced this position could be a sign of where the political winds are shifting in this country.
AAN Staff
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