How The Republican Party Learned To Love Cannabis Legalization

Forbes

With Donald Trump’s support for Florida’s pro-pot Amendment 3 and the expected federal rescheduling of marijuana, here’s why the GOP finally jumped on the weed bandwagon.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2024/09/22/how-the-republican-party-learned-to-love-cannabis-legalization/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, how the Republican Party learned to love cannabis legalization.

00:07In early September, former President Donald Trump officially announced his support for

00:12potheads.

00:13On his Truth Social platform, he wrote, quote,

00:16I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts

00:20of marijuana for personal use.

00:23We must also implement smart regulations while providing access for adults to safe, tested

00:29Trump, who was a Florida resident, went on to say that he would vote yes on Amendment

00:353, which if passed this November would legalize recreational cannabis in the Sunshine State.

00:41That could be a linchpin for other southern red states that have yet to legalize marijuana.

00:46And if Trump becomes president again, he wrote that he would also support the federal government's

00:50ongoing review to potentially reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, work with Congress

00:56to pass cannabis banking reform bills, and support states that wanted to legalize pot

01:00sales within their own borders.

01:03For most voters, the leader of the Republican Party coming out in support of cannabis legalization

01:08was surprising.

01:10The political movement to legalize marijuana has long been associated with liberals and

01:14Democrats.

01:15But over the last few years, more and more Republican lawmakers, big money donors, and

01:20conservative thinkers have co-opted the issue.

01:24Thanks to a $30 billion state-licensed cannabis economy spanning 38 states, 15 of which are

01:30Republican states, marijuana legalization is becoming a proxy for classic conservative

01:35issues—pro-business, states' rights, and freedom from big government.

01:41Even Richard Nixon, the Republican president who started America's war on drugs in 1971

01:46and classified marijuana as one of the world's most addictive substances, said that cannabis

01:51quote, is not particularly dangerous.

01:54He said this on audiotapes from 1973, revealed in a recent report in the New York Times.

02:01Jeremiah Mosteller, the co-founder of the Cannabis Freedom Alliance and the policy director

02:06at Americans for Prosperity, billionaire Charles Koch's political advocacy group, has been

02:11lobbying Republican lawmakers on cannabis reform since 2018.

02:16He says that, after years of perpetuating the war on drugs, the GOP has finally realized

02:21that legalization is happening with or without them.

02:24Now many lawmakers have decided to get on the bandwagon in hopes of incorporating conservative

02:28policies into the new laws, such as low taxes and fewer regulations to foster competitive

02:34free markets.

02:36Mosteller says, quote,

02:38We are seeing Republicans and conservatives increasingly warm up to cannabis policy.

02:43I think Trump recognizes what those of us who have been watching the issue for a long

02:46time know, that there is high support among the American public for this issue, but it's

02:51not an issue that makes a difference at the ballot box.

02:55If there is one man in Congress who can read the temperature on marijuana opposition and

02:59support, it is Representative Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon and the founder and

03:04co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Cannabis Caucus.

03:08He says, quote,

03:10We've been watching.

03:11There's been a slow, steady enhancement of Republican support.

03:15What we are seeing now is the last stages of entrenched Republican opposition.

03:20Among those who have had a recent conversion is Representative David Joyce, a Republican

03:25from Ohio, which legalized recreational use in 2023.

03:30Last December, Joyce introduced the States 2.0 Act, which would formally legalize state

03:35markets under federal law.

03:37If passed, Joyce's bill would deschedule state-legal marijuana, but pot produced and sold outside

03:43of state-licensed programs would remain illegal.

03:47This nuanced technicality sets the stage for a states' rights approach to legalization

03:51in a similar fashion that sports betting was legalized across America.

03:55Joyce, who says he started supporting legal cannabis in 2013, says Republican support

04:01is there for cannabis when legalization is framed as a states' rights issue.

04:06So much so that he believes that in Congress, quote,

04:09There are enough votes for cannabis reform.

04:12He adds, quote,

04:13Republicans are becoming enlightened.

04:16Someone can hate the issue, but if they're strong on states' rights, how can they deny it?

04:22For full coverage, check out Will Yakowitz's piece on Forbes.com.

04:27This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:29Thanks for tuning in.

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