Governor candidate joins pro-pot bandwagon

Philip Levine said Friday he favors legalizing recreational marijuana, joining two of the other five Democratic candidates for governor in advocating the change in Florida’s drug laws.

Candidates Andrew Gillum and Chris King came out in favor of legalization months ago.

Gwen Graham is taking a more cautious approach, favoring decriminalization, which could still leave marijuana users exposed to non-criminal penalties.

The candidates’ views represent a revolution in public opinion about marijuana use.

The widely respected Pew Research Center reported in January that 61 percent of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, nearly double the 31 percent who held that view in 2000.

Pew reported that 69 percent of Democrats support legalization as do 65 percent of independents. Republican support is much lower, just 43 percent.

A University of North Florida poll in February found 62 percent of Florida voters support legalizing and regulating recreational marijuana and 35 percent oppose the idea.

“Legalize it. Tax it. Use the revenue to fix Florida’s public schools and move us up from 29th in the nation to #1,” Gillum wrote on Twitter in January.

In May, King released an extensive criminal justice reform proposal that includes legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana.

Like Graham, Levine had favored decriminalization. Friday’s position reflects a change.

“If elected governor, I would carefully move to legalize the sale of limited quantities of recreational marijuana for adults,”