If Chris Christie becomes president, wave goodbye to legal weed
Colorado's marijuana dispensaries will be packing up shop if Chris Christie were elected president, the New Jersey governor promised at a New Hampshire town hall meeting on Tuesday.
"If you're getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it," Christie said. "As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws." The recreational use of marijuana is currently legal in Colorado, Washington, D.C., Oregon, Alaska, and Washington state, but, under a Christie presidency, federal laws that criminalize marijuana would be enforced, he says.
Christie is staunchly opposed to marijuana, which he believes "alters the brain and serves as a so-called gateway to the use of harder drugs," Bloomberg reports. In his opinion, if marijuana is going to be legalized, it should be changed at the national level, rather than perpetuating "lawlessness" by allowing elected officials to pick and choose which federal statutes they abide by.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Christie's opinions on pot don't exactly fall in line with that of most Americans, however. A majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, with 53 percent in favor and 44 percent opposed, a recent poll by the Pew Research Center found. Moreover, marijuana legalization is dominating the national conversation in ways that might make Christie want to reconsider his stance. At this point in the presidential elections, as The Week previously reported, marijuana is "more popular than any presidential candidate in national match-up polls," and over 20 marijuana ballot initiatives are already slated for 2016.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - April 27, 2024
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - natural gas, fundraising with Ted Cruz, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Aid to Ukraine: too little, too late?
Talking Point House of Representatives finally 'met the moment' but some say it came too late
By The Week UK Published
-
5 generously funny cartoons on the $60 billion foreign aid package
Cartoons Artists take on Republican opposition, aid to Ukraine, and more
By The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against Norway
Speed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
By The Week UK Published