In a clear departure from his more socially conservative top-of-the-ticket running mate Mitt Romney, vice presidential candidate Congressman Paul Ryan, in an interview this afternoon on KRDO in Colorado Springs, when confronted with a question about whether or not he supported patients in Colorado having legal access to cannabis for medical purposes, Ryan said that although he personally opposes medical cannabis use he would defer to the judgment of each state to make up its own mind on the issue.
Watch KRDO video here.
Of course, Representative Ryan’s public policy position, as articulated here, is not much different in scope or tone from what George W. Bush and President Barack Obama claimed too when running for president, only to commit significant Department of Justice resources in closing down hundreds of otherwise lawful, state-compliant medical cannabis dispensaries.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has historically opposed any legal access to medical cannabis and rejects states’ efforts to create policies different then the federal government’s. At the 2:35 mark in the video capture below from an interview Governor Romney gave to a Denver TV station during the primaries, he not only affirmed his opposition to even medical access to cannabis (which approximately 75% of the American population supports), but is equally dismissive of states’ efforts to come up with alternative public policies to that of the fed’s abject failure.
Looks like Romney and Ryan are not exactly two cannabis seeds in a pod…
I agree with snooze. VoteLibertarian unless someone running makes a firm committment on marijuana. Its not a wasted vote if it gets reactions. Remember the stand we take now can work in our favor in 4 years.
I wanna clarify myself I’m voting states rights not Mitt Romney.Wish Obama would put the home brew down for awhile and legalize something that doesn’t kill you.Just keep sippen choomer
(To Blake) You sound very young This two (R)want to put us in jail. They will destroy every thing we work for. Setting laws back to the 50 on cannabis
Things do look bleak on all fronts these days. We want to write the Bible out of existance and pretend like the 10 Commandments aren’t good enough to live by anymore. The stamp of the FDA and DEA trumps our God given rights to a “free will”. I think an even bigger issue is that ending prohibition will put millions of mostly African American folks out on the streets en masse.
This guy Ryan lies like Bill Clinton does. It never stops. An endless flow of Bullshit designed to disarm your intellect make the listeners agree with what are truly stupid ideas. Romney isn’t a conservative, Ryan barely is. There isn’t anything conservative about criminalizing normal behavior like using marijuana. There isn’t thing conservative about killing innocent people ’cause they look rather like the guilty–GWB and Bill Clinton are both responsible for causing innocents to die bases on their shitty ways of doing things. Obama continues American Arrogance while Apologizing for It. The “right” blasts him for apologizing and not being Arrogance enough, while also complaining his party is “too Arrogant”. These people either have or are pretending to be suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder. They abuse us with their bullshit and the correct response is to send them packing.
There have been plenty of bad countries. If you think it’s bad now take a delorian 2000 years back and check their laws. Todays laws are a cake walk compared to then. This country is’nt perfect yet but it’s the best one in history so far. Today’s worst country: Uzbekistan = torture is legal. Change comes hard. Never stop fighting.
Romney will bring more jobs by giving us more wars. There is plenty of paper left to make money to finance it and we can always borrow money from China or use the middle-class to pay for it by inflation. High School and College graduates can find jobs in the Arms Forces. See it’s a Win-Win. The lawn chair puppet master, who is now pulling Mitt Romney’s strings, can have is dream of the New World Order. All it takes is a total collapse of the United States to begin the American Empire.
The slower version is Barrack Obama, and that is, we all work with dignity and believing that the great master at Washington will take care of us all and your children. You just have to give up your guns and private property to relieve yourself from the high price of Freedom and Liberty. Then you become a team and work for the government because there is plenty of paper to make money.
I vote for Ron Paul.
Listen up people because I have a plan. If Obama comes out clearly in favor of legalization before the election vote for him. If not, then vote for Gary Johnson. It’s simple and I think will be a quite effective way of getting the prohibitionist’s attention.
Wow. A conservative who believes in states rights! What won’t they think of next.
You can be damn sure he’ll change his tune if he gets any real power in government.
The best vote to make in 2012 is for laws that lessen or eliminate penalties for MJ or that legalize medpot. Neither the Demo or GOP candidate for POTUS (LOL!) supports pot. We The People have to send the message a different way this time around in regards to who will be residing at 1600 Pennsylvania.
Next time around in 2016, be sure to only vote for pro-pot candidates in the primaries so we will have a shot at getting someone who is truly on our side in the general election.
“You can be damn sure he’ll change his tune if he gets any real power in government.”
He already has: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/09/10/paul-ryan-immediately-retracts-support-for-medical-marijuana/
I BEG all of my fellow marijuana brothers and sisters, WE NEED TO KEEP ROMNEY/RYAN OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE OR WE WILL FACE DARK DAYS INDEED.
I wonder if he checking his colon while his heads up his ass
Um he has already changed his mind…I believe it took less than 24 hours, he just wanted to try and get some votes thinking people are just complete idiots.
The Democrats and Republicans have both totally failed this country.
Please have the courage to vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson! Voting for the person you really want is not a wasted vote.
If you choose not to vote for Gary, then, for God’s sake, vote Obama over Romney (the Gay Bashing anti-choice prohibitionist morman bully)!
If Romney were ever to get in as President he will truely support the 11th commandment of MARIJUANA PROHIBITION and be the Moses of Mormonism.
As a Republican, the position that Mitt & Ryan are taking on marijuana, medical or recreational,is enough to lose our votes.
I guess they want to lose. They choose a position that is the polar opposite to the will of the majority of citizens they want to be elected to represent. Imagine that….
This report is a complete false statement. his staff rescinded his statements the next day here in Colorado. Don’t buy into the hype check the Denver news
This is why 3rd parties can never win in the US until rules on voting are changed. It’s also why voting 3rd party is basically a vote for the party furthest from your ideals. A Romney-Ryan Presidency would be far worse for the marijuana legalization movement than people seem to believe.
“This report is a complete false statement. his staff rescinded his statements the next day here in Colorado. Don’t buy into the hype check the Denver news.”
If it’s false, why did his staff have to rescind his statements? Why did he say it in the first place?
NORML fans know this issue, but many politicians don’t really think about it. When commenting he fell back on his conservative principles and had to be put in his place. Of course, as we all know conservatives quickly abandon their principles when it comes to this issue.
After listening to Russ Belleville regarding the option to vote for Gary Johnson, I’ve decided to vote for Obama since I live in the swing state of VA. I’d really much prefer to have Gary be our next president since Romney is a friggin’ nightmare and Obama, thus far, has shown he can’t be trusted. But, because I live in a swing state, I can’t take the risk of letting my vote possible help Romney.
It’s something to consider people! If you live in a swing state I urge you to vote Obama to reduce the chance of Romney actually becoming our next president (i.e. prohibitionist in chief)
The swing states are: Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconson, Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia
Of course, if you live in a state that is likely to give the vote to Romney then by all means, make sure you get out to vote for Obama. God knows this country has problems but it could certainly be worse if Romney somehow wins!
Don’t vote for Ryan. http://radio.foxnews.com/2012/09/11/paul-ryans-three-positions-on-medical-marijuana/
He will lock you up
. The single best candidate position on mj goes to Gary Johnson.
Election time is almost here. There are enough of us out there to make a difference. Stop being afraid! Vote Gary Johnson. Spread the word. Twitter, FaceBook whatever your means. Rally the troops. Its time we stick together and fight for what we want. As said previously, its not a wasted vote. I am an adult. I choose bud over beer and my body thanks me for it. We are not the criminals. The politicians are. Weed is not a gateway. I’ve been smoking for almost 20 yrs. I have a great stable career and a fantastic family. Never tried anything but weed. Americans, vote for what we want!!!!!!