One of the signature moments in the latter portion of Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate came on the topic of marijuana.
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Carly Fiorina also jumped into the discussion (for those who didn’t watch the debate, enforcement of order was fairly lax). As such it is necessary that America takes a different look at its attitude but for the better. “When you see people who are unarguable, rock-hard conservatives saying, ‘I’m done with this fight, ‘ that means we’re really done with this fight”.
“I agree with states’ rights”, Fiorina said. He said he believed in the 10th Amendment, which he said leaves such issues for states to decide.
PAUL: Well, I think if we left it open, we could see how many people smoked pot in high school…
Bush eventually jumped in: “He was talking about me”.
Jeb Bush (R) admitted he smoked marijuana 40 years ago in Wednesday’s GOP debate. But that’s true’.
Enforcement should not entail jailing “a nonviolent, non-dealing drug user” for a first offence, Christie said. Senator Paul also spoke of the need for Congress to enact the The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act to strengthen statewide medical marijuana protections and impose various changes to federal law.
“Under the current circumstances, kids who had privilege like you do don’t go to jail, but the poor kids in our inner cities go to jail”. There was a huge loophole. It was the first step to getting to a Colorado place. As a citizen of Florida. And as a citizen of Florida, I voted no. He exclaimed to Paul “if you want marijuana legalized, pass a law in Congress”.
This year Georgia passed a law allowing families to possess cannabis oil to treat childhood seizures, but the legal and political landscape remains fraught as many Georgia leaders are concerned about marijuana legalization in states such as Colorado. “This is recreational use of marijuana”.
Christie’s thoughts were countered by Dan Riffle, director of federal policy for the Marijuana Policy Project, who stated that a lot of presidential candidates are misinformed on marijuana. He wants states to be free to make the choice without federal involvement, and he’s called for sentencing reform. At one point, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie chimed in, criticizing Paul for making an implicit threat to separate mothers who administer marijuana as a medicine from their sick children.
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“The marijuana that kids are smoking today is not the same Jeb Bush smoked 40 years ago”, she said.
