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Will cannabis be a US election issue?

[doobiebaby]

I think the answer is no.  The reason why I think this is that cannabis reform is now table stakes and neither the Democrats nor the Republicans can claim to be more pro cannabis than the other.  With this in mind I doubt the Republicans wait until the next election to make it a plank in their campaign promises.  It makes far more strategic sense for Trump to move now on the issue and own it rather than having it be a me too policy in the next election fight.

I believe that Trump and his strategists are well aware of the polling numbers on cannabis (90%+ for medical cannabis and over 60% nationwide for Adult Use).  And the Republicans understand the dollars involved here very well.  Washington also understands the opioid epidemic and the impact that drug policies have had on US veterans.  There is also the rascist aspects of the War on Drugs that must be properly handled now that most people think the War on Drugs has been a War on Minorities.  And it was the Repblicans under Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan who ramped up the war on cannabis and threw so many minorities in jail for small possession charges etc..  So its the Republican's mess to clean up and if I was a Republican strategist I would be recommending that the Grand Old Party clean up the mess before the Democrats can hammer away on the negatives of the War on Drug policy and the Republicans part in it in the next election.

Bottom line I don't see any benefit for Trump to wait until the next election to announce reform changes.  Much better to own the issue now and benefit from the economic activity and social benefits of reforming cannabis...because if they don't they leave the door open for Democrats to own the issue to a degree and to criticize them for the War on Drugs and their inability to deal with it effectively.