Name: Lindsey Graham Challenger Jaime Harrison Backs Legalizing Marijuana
Brand: marijuanamoment.net
SKU: marijuanamoment-net-47
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Lindsey Graham Challenger Jaime Harrison Backs Legalizing Marijuana

preview

The Democrat mounting a well-funded bid to oust Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he supports legalizing marijuana.“I think we should legalize, regulate and tax marijuana like we do alcohol and tobacco,” Jaime Harrison argued this week. “There is simply no medical reason to lock people up over this issue. In essence, this is about common sense.”The former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman said that the issue is also a matter of criminal justice reform.“We know that marijuana arrests, including those for simple possession, account for a large number of drug arrests. The racial disparities in marijuana enforcement—black men and white men smoke marijuana the same rates, but black men are much more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession—is just unacceptable,” he said in an interview with . “Across the country, we are finding that states are legalizing marijuana and medical marijuana, and it’s just time for South Carolina to lead on this issue.”Federal campaign finance disclosures filed on Wednesday that Harrison, who also served as an aide to Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and a lobbyist with the Podesta Group, outraised Graham for the second quarter in a row.The state Democratic party, on Harrison’s last day in office as chair in 2017, approved a endorsing a pending medical cannabis bill in the South Carolina legislature.“Caregivers and patients are searching for treatment options for unmet medical needs, particularly for epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, cancers, and the effects of chemotherapy,” the measure said. “The cannabis plant in various forms including oils, creams, drops and liquids has shown some promise in treating these medical conditions.”A South Carolina Senate committee last year but it never ended up advancing to a floor vote.In 2018, the state’s Democratic primary voters by an 82 percent to 18 percent margin.Graham, for his part, opposes marijuana legalization and hasn’t brought any pending cannabis legislation up for hearings or votes in his panel, which handles criminal justice issues.That said, he has in past years. For example, in 2016 he signed onto legislation to protect medical marijuana states from federal interference and reschedule cannabis, and in 2017 he cosponsored a bill to remove CBD from the list of federally banned substances.He has a mixed record when it comes to votes on cannabis amendments.In 2015, Graham&nbsp;voted against an Appropriations Committee amendment that would have allowed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to recommend medical cannabis to patients; but the next year he reversed himself and supported a similar measure. Also in 2016, he backed an amendment to prevent the Department of Justice from spending money to interfere with state medical cannabis laws.Shortly after it was announced he would be taking over the Judiciary panel’s gavel, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) joked that he would be , a quip that the incoming chairman seemed to appreciate.While South Carolina typically isn’t seen as a state where Democrats are likely to pick up a U.S. Senate seat, this year’s contest between Harrison and Graham is attracting attention from national political observers due to the outsized funding haul the challenger has been able to bring in so far.Photo courtesy of .Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

The Democrat mounting a well-funded bid to oust Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he supports legalizing marijuana.“I think we should legalize, regulate and tax marijuana like we do alcohol and tobacco,” Jaime Harrison argued this week. “There is simply no medical reason to lock people up over this issue. In essence, this is about common sense.”The former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman said that the issue is also a matter of criminal justice reform.“We know that marijuana arrests, including those for simple possession, account for a large number of...

public

Tom Angell

Your top source for updates on the most important marijuana & cannabis news. Federal, state, international, business, science & culture. Editor: @tomangell

Lindsey Graham Challenger Jaime Harrison Backs Legalizing Marijuana

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS