The 2012 Republican Candidates on Marijuana | Marihuana | Cannabis | Hemp

As we approach the middle of January, Election 2012 is in full swing. Fresh off of the Iowa Caucuses, the six remaining Republican candidates move on to New Hampshire for their January 10th primary. As a non-profit organization, we are not permitted to endorse candidates for public office, but we hope this guide helps inform you of the marijuana policy positions of the various candidates.

(Note: I am not endorsing any of the candidates listed below and this is intended only as an educational overview of the candidates positions on marijuana policy.)

Republican Presidential Candidates 2012

Mitt Romney

Governor of Massachusetts (2003-2007)

Public Statements:

“People talk about medicinal marijuana, and, you know, you hear that story: People who are sick need medicinal marijuana. But marijuana is the entry drug for people trying to get kids hooked on drugs. I don’t want medicinal marijuana. There are synthetic forms of marijuana that are available for people who need it for prescription. Don’t open the doorway to medicinal marijuana.” 

(“Ask Mitt Anything” Event in Bedford, NH 2007 – source)

“We’ve got to not only continue our war on drugs from a police standpoint but also to market again to our young people about the perils of drugs.”

(New Hampshire Voter Event, August 17, 2011 – source)

“I believe marijuana should be illegal in this country. It is the pathway to drug usage by our society, which has made great scourges; it is one of the great causes of crime in our cities. I believe if we are at a state were, of course we are very concerned about people who are suffering in pain, and there are various means of providing pain management. And those who have had loved ones that have gone through an end of life with cancer know nature of real pain. I watched my wife’s mom and dad going through cancer treatments suffering a great deal of pain, but they didn’t have marijuana, and they didn’t need marijuana. Because there were other sources of pain management that worked as effectively.”

(Oct. 4 2007 at St. Anselm’s College, Manchester, NH – source)

“But having legalized [medical] marijuana is, in my view, an effort by a very committed few to try to get marijuana out in the public and ultimately legalize marijuana. They have a long way to go. We need less drugs in this society, not more drugs. I would oppose the legalization of marijuana in the country or legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes because pain management is available from other sources.”

(Oct. 4 2007 at St. Anselm’s College, Manchester, NH – source)

Prior Activity: None

Ron Paul

House of Representatives for Texas’ 22nd (1976-1977, 1979-1985, 1997-Present)

Public Statements:

“This war on drugs has been a detriment to personal liberty and it’s been a real abuse of liberty, Our prisons are full with people who have used drugs who should be treated as patients — and they’re non-violent. Someday we’re gonna awake and find out that the prohibition we are following right now with drugs is no more successful, maybe a lot less successful, than the prohibition of alcohol was in the ’20s.”

(Comments Post-Iowa Caucus, 01/04/12 – source)

“Well, removing [marijuana] from the jurisdiction of the federal government and allowing the states to regulate it, like they would alcohol. And this seems to be strange for a lot of people, but I’m only going back to 1937 when that’s the way it was handled. The states always did this, and I’m motivated strongly also because the states legalize it for the use of medicinal purposes and it is helpful to people who have cancer or are getting chemotherapy. So this is not a huge radical idea, it’s something that was legal for a long, long time. And the war against marijuana causes so much hardship and accomplishes nothing. So I would say that marijuana, as far as causing highway problems, is miniscule compared to alcohol, and yet we knew prohibition of alcohol was very bad. So this is just getting back to a sensible position on how we handle difficult problems. And, for me, it should be the states.”

(Kudlow Report, June 23, 2011 – source)

“The role of the federal government is to protect our liberties. That means they should protect our religious liberties to do what we want; our intellectual liberty, but it also should protect our right to do to our body what we want, you know, what we take into our bodies.”

(Jay Leno Show, Dec. 2011 – source)

Prior Activity:

Co-sponsored HR 2306: Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011

Sponsored HR 1831: Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2011

Rick Santorum

House of Representatives for Pennsylvania’s 18th District (1991-1995)

US Senator from Pennsylvania (1995-2007)

Public Statements:

“There is a difference between legitimate issues of character — someone’s behavior — and the issue of whether someone who has done something wrong in their life, now because of those mistakes, can’t talk about what is the right thing to do. Politicians who have stumbled personally, are capable of making values-based arguments. I don’t think that’s hypocritical. That’s a dangerous line that many folks tend to cross over — that because you made a mistake, you can’t talk about this or that issue. We all make mistakes.

For example, I smoked pot when I was in college. Does that mean that I can’t talk about drug use? Does that mean that I can’t talk about how that’s a bad thing? Of course not. You learn from those experiences.

Even during that time, I knew that what I was doing was wrong. But just because I failed, that does not mean that I shouldn’t be able to talk about it. That’s a different issue. It’s not hypocrisy, as long as you don’t say, ‘I thought it was right, and now think it was wrong.’ If you knew what was going on, and most people do, you have moments of weakness. It happens to all of us. But that should not deter people from talking about what they believe is right.”

(National Review, March 2011 – source)

“Well, yeah, I admitted you know, back when I was running for the Senate, that when I was in college that I smoked pot and that was something that I did when I was in college. It was something that I’m not proud of, but I did. And said it was something that I wish I hadn’t done. But I did and I admitted it. I would encourage people not to do so. It was not all it’s made up to be.”
(Piers Morgan Tonight, August 31^st, 2011 – source)

“I would think that [legalizing marijuana] would be an activity that is not consistent with American values.”
(Ames Straw Poll, September 2011 – source)

“I am adamantly opposed to the legalization of marijuana and other illegal narcotics I believe that this would lead to increased drug usage, especially among young people. While it is true that many Americans blatantly defy federal laws against the trafficking, sale, and use of illegal drugs, I believe a greater number of people are deterred from illegal drug use by the threat of arrest and prosecution.”

(1998 Constituent Letter Supplied to NORML – source)

“I believe that the drugs which are currently illegal should remain illegal. I am committed to maintaining the federal government’s role in the “war on drugs”, which is fought on many fronts by federal agents, local law enforcement, substance abuse counselors, teachers, parents, and concerned citizens.”

(1998 Constituent Letter Supplied to NORML – source)

Prior Activity:

Voted ‘Yes’ on HR 3540 in 1996 to add an additional $53 million (raising the total to $213 million) to international narcotics control funding, and pay for it by taking $25 million from international operations funding and $28 million from development assistance.

Newt Gingrich

House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th District (1979-1999)

House Minority Whip (1989-1995)

Speaker of the House (1995-1999)

Public Statements:

“I think Jefferson or George Washington would have rather strongly discouraged you from growing marijuana and their techniques with dealing with it would have been rather more violent than our current government.”

(New Hampshire Voter Event, January 2012 – source)

“I would continue current federal policy, largely because of the confusing signal that steps towards legalization sends to harder drugs…I think the California experience is that medical marijuana becomes a joke. It becomes marijuana for any use. You find local doctors who will prescribe it for anybody that walks in.”

(Yahoo! News Interview, November 28th, 2011 – source)

“I don’t have a comprehensive view. My general belief is that we ought to be much more aggressive about drug policy. And that we should recognize that the Mexican cartels are funded by Americans. In my mind it means having steeper economic penalties and it means having a willingness to do more drug testing.”

(Yahoo! News Interview, November 28th, 2011 – source)

“I think that we need to consider taking more explicit steps to make it expensive to be a drug user. It could be through testing before you get any kind of federal aid. Unemployment compensation, food stamps, you name it.

It has always struck me that if you’re serious about trying to stop drug use, then you need to find a way to have a fairly easy approach to it and you need to find a way to be pretty aggressive about insisting–I don’t think actually locking up users is a very good thing. I think finding ways to sanction them and to give them medical help and to get them to detox is a more logical long-term policy.”

(Yahoo! News Interview, November 28th, 2011 – source)

Prior Activity:

Introduced and Sponsored the Drug Importer Death Penalty Act of 1996

Rick Perry

House of Representatives from Texas’ 64th District (1985-1991)

Lt. Governor of Texas (1999-2001)

Governor of Texas (2000-Present)

Public Statements:

“Crucial to understanding federalism in modern-day America is the concept of mobility, or “the ability to vote with your feet.” If you don’t support the death penalty and citizens packing a pistol, don’t come to Texas. If you don’t like medicinal marijuana and gay marriage, don’t move to California….”
(“Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington” by Rick Perry)

“When the federal government oversteps its authority, states should tell Washington they will not be complicit in enforcing laws with which they do not agree. Again, the best example is an issue I don’t even agree with—the partial legalization of marijuana. Californians clearly want some level of legalized marijuana, be it for medicinal use or otherwise. The federal government is telling them they cannot. But states are not bound to enforce federal law, and the federal government cannot commandeer state resources and require them to enforce it.”
(“Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America From Washington” by Rick Perry)

“[If] you want to go somewhere where you can smoke medicinal weed, then you ought to be able to do that.”

(Daily Show Interview, November 2010 – source)

“We can win the war on drugs but we have to fight it first. I know, I have to deal with this.”

(Republican Jewish Coalition 2012 Presidential Candidates Forum – source)

“The Governor does not support legalizing any drug. The Governor supports federal drug laws where appropriate. And while the Governor is personally opposed to legalizing the use of medical marijuana, if states want to allow doctor prescribed medical marijuana, it seems to him that under the 10th amendment, they have the right to do so.”

(Perry Spokesman Mike Miner to the Washington Post – source)

Prior Activity: None

Jon Huntsman

Governor of Utah (2005-2009)

US Ambassador to China (2009-2011)

Public Statements:

“Question: would you prosecute growers and sellers of marijuana in states where it has been made legal?

Jon Huntsman: I would let states decide that.”

(Townhall in Exeter, NH, June 2011 – source)

“I never saw him inhale.”

(Huntsman’s Childhood Friend in Politico – source)

Motorists Dream Gas at 6 Cents A Gallon

By Stacy Johnson

Gassing up isn’t cheap: According to AAA, we’re now paying a nationwide average of $2.73 for a gallon of regular. That’s about 25 cents a gallon more than last year. But it’s certainly better than the year before, when prices shot up to over $4/gallon.

But if the cost of gas bothers you, be happy you don’t live in Asmara, Eritrea. This African nation boasts the highest gas prices in the world — nearly $10/gallon. On the other hand, you could be living in Venezuela, where prices are as low as 6 cents.

[Click here to check savings products and rates in your area.]

Interesting Find: THC-AMAP – fast and reliable application fingerprint mapper

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10 Brands that may disappear in 2011

by Douglas A. McIntyre
Thursday, July 8, 2010

provided by

24/7 Wall St. has created a new list of brands that may disappear, which includes Readers Digest, Kia Motors, Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG – News), Zale (NYSE: ZLC –News), Blockbuster (BLOKA.PK – News), T-Mobile, BP Plc (NYSE: BP – News),RadioShack (NYSE: RSH – News), Merrill Lynch and Moody’s (NYSE: MCO – News).

24/7 Wall St. regularly compiles a report of brands that are likely to disappear in the near-term. Last April, and again in December, we published our findings. Usually, it would take a full year before such a list could be compiled again. However, the current economic climate has accelerated this process and a majority of the brands on the first two lists are either gone, have been acquired, or have filed for bankruptcy.

Al-Qaeda: poor Yemeni town cursed by its name

AL-QAEDA, Yemen (AFP) – Surrounded by mountains and weighed down by poverty, a Yemeni town bears the dubious honour of carrying the same name as Al-Qaeda.

The residents of Al-Qaeda, 220 kilometres (135 miles) northwest of the capital Sanaa, say the name has brought shame on the town.

Al-Qaeda (Arabic for ‘the base’) was once a commercial hub where custom duties on trade between north and south Yemen were collected decades ago, according to older residents.

FIFA vows referee system overhaul – International Football

JOHANNESBURG – From disallowed goals due to phantom penalties (Slovenia-USA) to clear offsides being missed (Argentina-Mexico) to a ball clearing the goal line and not being ruled a score (Germany-England), one of the enduring memories of this World Cup will be refereeing blunders.

The mistakes have been so humiliating, the cries from players, coaches and fans so loud and the global replays so persistent,

Will Face the Nation Factcheck Guest’s Healthcare Lies?

Action Alert Will Face the Nation Factcheck Guest’s Healthcare Lies? CBS’s Schieffer owes audience the truth 4/1/10 CBS‘s Face the Nation (3/28/10) covered the passage of healthcare reform by inviting Democratic National Committee chair Tim Kaine and two Republican critics on the program–one of whom spread misinformation that went unchallenged by host Bob Schieffer. What’s notable about this is that CBS has since posted on its website a debunking of the two claims made by the guest, conservative Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann from Minnesota. At the very beginning of the interview, Bachmann explained her opposition to the new healthcare law: “Now we have the federal government, Bob, taking over ownership or control of 51 percent of the American economy. This is stunning. Prior to September of 2008, 100 percent of the private economy was private.” Schieffer’s response was to point out that some of what she appeared to be talking about–the TARP bailouts–began under the Bush administration. A more important point to make, though, is that Bachmann’s claim doesn’t make sense. Government spending as a share of the country’s gross domestic product is nowhere near Bachmann’s claim. What she was apparently trying to say is thatgovernment bailouts of various industries are the same as “taking over ownership” of about a third of the economy, and that the new healthcare law amounts to a similar takeover of 18 percent of the economy–which adds up to over half of the economy. Since the government is not in fact “taking over” healthcare or the financial industry, the analogy makes no sense. Another bit of evidence against the healthcare law that Bachmann offered was this: “The New EnglandJournal of Medicine released a survey the week that President Obama signed Obamacare stating that over 30 percent of American physicians would leave the profession if the government took over healthcare.” The Journal neither conducted nor released any such study. A private physicians search firm posted a press release claiming this finding on the NEJM CareerCenter website, part of an employment newsletter published by the same company that publishes the Journal. So much of the national debate over healthcare reform was marred by these types of wild exaggerations, many of which were not factchecked by journalists. It was encouraging, then, to seeCBS publish a piece on its website by CBS associate news producer David Riedel (3/29/10) headlined “Bachmann Offers Big Numbers, Little Proof.” Making that information available to a Web audience is important. But if CBS believes Bachmann’s rhetoric was misleading, they should say so in the same place they gave her to make these claims. Correcting the record only on the Web–as ABC‘s George Stephanopoulos did when Rudolph Giuliani made inaccurate claims about 9/11 on Good Morning America (Extra!, 3/10)–does a disservice to your TV audience. In an interview last year with Jon Friedman (Marketwatch, 5/15/09), Face the Nation host Schieffer expressed no tolerance for those who would mislead his TV audience: “When I asked him how he feels when subjects lie to him on the air or try to mislead the audience, he got right to the point. ‘I want to jump across the table and choke them,’ he said.” If he meant that, then he should tell his audience the truth. ACTION: Encourage CBS‘s Face the Nation to share its Web debunking of Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s rhetoric on its upcoming April 4 broadcast. CONTACT: CBS Face the Nation ftn@cbsnews.com (202) 457-4481

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Please post copies of your letters or comments below for the world to witness.  Thanks

Obama’s Brother in Asia!

President Obama; family time

He’s still incredibly busy running the country, but President Obama found a little time this past week to catch up with his half-brother. While visiting Beijing on a diplomatic trip, Mr. Obama set aside a few minutes to talk with Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who shares the same father as the president. Mr. Ndesandjo made some headlines several months ago when he spoke about growing up with whom he called his “abusive father.” He and the president have rarely seen each other in person. After their latest meeting, Mr. Ndesandjo said he felt overwhelmed and “over the moon” about getting to see his famous sibling. Details of what was discussed were not revealed, but Searches still soared on both men's names, as well as “obama family tree.”

via The Buzz Log – Obama’s Brother, Elizabeth Lambert, and a Special Delivery: Buzz Week in Review – Yahoo! Buzz.

The Buzz Log – Obama’s Brother, Elizabeth Lambert, and a Special Delivery: Buzz Week in Review – Yahoo! Buzz

President Obama & family time

He’s still incredibly busy running the country, but President Obama found a little time this past week to catch up with his half-brother. While visiting Beijing on a diplomatic trip, Mr. Obama set aside a few minutes to talk with Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who shares the same father as the president. Mr. Ndesandjo made some headlines several months ago when he spoke about growing up with whom he called his “abusive father.” He and the president have rarely seen each other in person. After their latest meeting, Mr. Ndesandjo said he felt overwhelmed and “over the moon” about getting to see his famous sibling. Details of what was discussed weren't revealed, but Searches still soared on both men's names, as well as “obama family tree.”

via The Buzz Log – Obama’s Brother, Elizabeth Lambert, and a Special Delivery: Buzz Week in Review – Yahoo! Buzz.

Latin American Leaders Trash America at Summit – Obama is silent

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p…d=aun_fNO0161g

April 18 (Bloomberg) — Latin American leaders railed against the U.S. during President Barack Obama’s first trip to the region, turning what was intended to mark a new direction in relations into a history lesson that chastised “Yankee troop” interventions and U.S.-dictated economic policies.

Obama arrived at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday promising to “listen and learn” from regional leaders. He got an earful.

In the weekend’s first speeches, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner voiced grievances on issues ranging from the U.S. drug war to American support for counterinsurgency movements of the 1980s.  Both urged Obama to end the 47-year-old trade embargo against Cuba, the only country in the Americas excluded from the 34-nation summit.

“For many years, there have been traumatic relations,” Fernandez said.  “I want you to know, Obama, that this is in no way a reproach against you.  It’s simply an exercise to look back at what happened.”

Obama is trying to revive U.S. influence in Latin America that waned under President George W. Bush as the war on terror diverted attention to the Middle East and the region expanded economic and diplomatic ties with U.S. rivals such as Russia and China.

Chavez’s Gift

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who last month called Obama an “ignoramus” when it comes to Latin America, today gave Obama a Spanish-language copy of Uruguayan historian Eduardo Galeano’s book “Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent.”

Chavez greeted Obama yesterday with a hand shake, signaling the good will Obama’s election has generated even among America’s fiercest critics in Latin America.

Ortega, who said he was upset that he was forced to wait for three hours on the tarmac after landing, spoke for 45 minutes. His speech included a reference to invasion by “Yankee troops.”

Nicaragua’s president said he was “ashamed” Cuba wasn’t invited to participate in the summit and called Obama’s lifting last week of travel and remittance restrictions for Cuban- Americans “insufficient and inacceptable.”

‘Big Test’

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Obama during a meeting today with leaders from the Union of South American Nations that another Summit of the Americas without Cuba was unacceptable.

“The big test is progress in relations with Cuba,” said Brazil’s Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. “A small step was taken in the right direction. But there needs to be direct dialogue, discreet in the beginning. That’s what Lula told Obama needs to take place.”

Cuba is symbolically important to the region’s leaders, many of whom entered politics under military regimes and looked to the communist country and its longtime leader Fidel Castro, 82, for inspiration and support.

Kirchner and Ortega “were there to push the envelope,” said Congressman Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat who attended last night’s opening ceremony. “I don’t think that was a surprise to anyone in this room, though it took Ortega some time to do it.  But Obama rose above it.”

Obama, speaking after Ortega and Fernandez, said the U.S. is seeking a new beginning in its relationship with Cuba and wants an “equal partnership” with other countries in the Americas.

Regional leaders “cannot let ourselves be prisoners of past disagreements,” Obama said.

“You can’t blame the U.S. for every problem in this hemisphere,” Obama said. “I am very grateful that President Ortega didn’t blame me for things that happened when I was three months old.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Helen Murphy in Port-of-Spain atHmurphy1@bloomberg.net; Joshua Goodman in Port-of-Spain atjgoodman19@bloomberg.net.