Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
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,”
he said in a video released by his campaign.
With his new position, he cites one of the potential benefits touted by Gillum and King: more tax money for the state.
Levine articulated his new position on Friday, the day before a four-candidate debate in the Tampa Bay area and three days before a four-candidate debate in South Florida.
He and Graham were criticized last week by John Morgan, the prominent Central Florida trial lawyer and major Democratic donor who was a driving force behind the state constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana. “Decriminalization is a cop-out,” Morgan said.
Also on Friday, Graham was endorsed by the politically influential Florida Education Association. The union represents more than 140,000 teachers and other school employees.
Jeff Greene, a Palm Beach billionaire who filed paperwork June 1 indicating his candidacy for the Democratic nomination, hasn’t issued any public statements on marijuana or any other subject.