One of the key moments toward the end of Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate was a clash that veered from humorous to poignant on a subject Georgia has grappled with this year — marijuana.
This year Georgia passed a law allowing families to possess cannabis oil to treat childhood seizures, but the legal and political landscape remains fraught as many Georgia leaders are concerned about marijuana legalization in states such as Colorado.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said states should be allowed to legalize marijuana if they choose and denounced the “War on Drugs.”
“There is at least one prominent example on the stage of someone who says they smoked pot in high school, and yet the people going to — to jail for this are poor people, often African-Americans and often Hispanics, and yet the rich kids who use drugs aren’t,” Paul said.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush volunteered himself as that example.
“So, 40 years ago, I smoked marijuana, and I admit it. I’m sure that other people might have done it and may not want to say it in front of 25 million people,” Bush said. “My mom’s not happy that I just did.”
Bush talked up his expansion of specialized drug courts in Florida, but Paul attacked him for opposing cannabis oil as a seizure treatment. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie soon jumped in with his more restrictionist view: “That doesn’t mean we should be legalizing gateway drugs.”
But the memorable moment went to businesswoman Carly Fiorina, who brought up her own family tragedy and somehow pivoted quickly to humor.
“I very much hope I am the only person on this stage who can say this, but I know there are millions of Americans out there who will say the same thing,” Fiorina said.
“My husband, Frank, and I buried a child to drug addiction,” she said. “So we must invest more in the treatment of drugs.”
Fiorina's stepdaughter Lori died in 2009 at age 35 after a battle with addiction.
“I agree with Senator Paul,” Fiorina went on. “I agree with states’ rights. But we are misleading young people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having a beer. It’s not. And the marijuana that kids are smoking today is not the same as the marijuana that Jeb Bush smoked 40 years ago.
“We do — sorry, Barbara. We do need — we do need criminal justice reform. We have the highest incarceration rates in the world. Two-thirds of the people in our prisons are there for nonviolent offenses, mostly drug-related. It’s clearly not working.
“But we need to tell young people the truth. Drug addiction is an epidemic, and it is taking too many of our young people. I know this sadly from personal experience.”
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