It’s been a long, strange trip for marijuana reform, once the province of liberals and Democrats. But now, as Michael Pope reports, Republicans are getting into the act.
Reforming the nation’s marijuana laws is no longer the exclusive territory of Democrats. This year, two Virginia Republicans are pushing legislation to ease back on the war on drugs. Republican Congressman Morgan Griffith of Salem has a bill that would allow for medical marijuana. And Republican Congressman Tom Garrett of Scottsville has a bill that would end the federal prohibition against marijuana -- a drug he says has medical value.
“We know there are areas whether it’s digestive intolerance, dealing with chemotherapy, chronic pain management, intractable epilepsy and glaucoma that marijuana and marijuana derivatives can help.”
Garrett’s bill would not legalize marijuana. It would just end the federal prohibition, leaving it to the states. Garrett was a state lawmaker becoming a congressman, and as a member of the General Assembly he voted against decriminalization. But he sees an important use for marijuana in society, one that’s stifled by federal law.
“We’ve passed bills in Virginia where I was a cosponsor to allow parents with children who have intractable epilepsy to use cannabinoid extracts. But they can’t because pharmacies can’t carry them because they are not allowed to possess them.”
Ultimately, Garrett says, the winds of change are shifting on this issue.
“We’ve seen a real coalescing of the right wing of the right wing, folks like Thomas Massie and Rand Paul as well as the left wing, Congressman Welch from Vermont and Congresswoman Gabbard from Hawaii. So I think if we get the middle we win the day.”
Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly of Fairfax County says public opinion is shifting. And so Republican politics are shifting as well.
“I’m not surprised that some of my Republican colleagues are joining in the effort here to liberalize laws because so many people have had their lives destroyed for small possession. And I don’t think anybody thinks that’s appropriate any longer.”
Bottom line, Connolly says, all those old-fashioned beliefs about marijuana were not really rooted in science anyway.
“We treat marijuana as if it’s the most dangerous drug on the planet. It is not, and clearly the states are no longer accepting that federal law and that federal guidance.”
And all those changing state laws may be influencing Republicans. Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington points out that the Grand Old Party has long seen itself as a champion of state power over centralized power.
“One of the things the Republicans can find really appealing about an idea of giving the states this authority goes back to the basic Republican idea of federalism.”
And so even the appeal of cracking down on criminals may be losing some of its grip.
“Being tough on crime makes a lot of sense in those areas where the public wants you to be tough on crime.”
But a recent poll from Virginia Commonwealth University found that about 80% of Virginians favored reducing the penalty for small amounts of marijuana. And 62% agree that recreational use should be legalized.
“As you look at the movement of public opinion in favor of medical marijuana it makes sense that Democrats and Republicans both might be rethinking the way in which these laws are put in place.”
Michael Collins at the Drug Policy Alliance says while it’s true two Republican Virginia congressman are now on board with the effort to liberalize the nation’s drug laws ...
“It is another Virginia Republican — in this case Bob Goodlatte — who actually is blocking a lot of these bills from moving forward.”
That would be the Republican Congressman from Roanoke who serves as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“He has refused to move forward any marijuana-related bill, be it medical or adult use. And so that’s something that hopefully now that we have Republicans from Virginia pushing this that Mr. Goodlatte will feel that he should also get on board.”
Congressmen on both sides of the aisle see a day in the near future where states would have the final say. Then again, those same members point out Virginia’s conservative legislature would probably be one of the last states to legalize recreational use.