The race in the 2016 presidential election certainly appears as if it is going to end up as Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. No, Bernie Sanders isn’t out of it yet, but he’s got one heck of a fight in front of him. Some believe that Trump has no chance of ever taking the presidency, but he may be finding new support by looking to legalize marijuana in all 50 states.
Trump has already won the Republican Party nomination. Clinton has enough pledged delegates for the Democratic Party nomination and the pressure is on Sanders to drop out, but he hasn’t yet. Some are rather torn on just who would win out of Clinton and Trump, but the marijuana issue is what may end up being the deciding factor.
81% of Republicans and 94% of Democrats support the legal use of medical marijuana: https://t.co/JW8t928bPo
— MarketWatch (@MarketWatch) June 8, 2016
Market Watch is reporting that despite those very strong polling numbers, medical marijuana legalization hardly ever comes up in the general election. These numbers are much higher than a couple of other strong issues as shown by recent Gallup polls released.
- 34 percent of Americans believe immigration to the U.S. should be decreased
- 55 percent of Americans think laws governing the sales of firearms should be more strict
- 57 percent of Americans think their taxes are far too high
While it’s not being brought up too often right now, that could very well change once the nominees are set for the 2016 presidential election. No matter who faces off against Donald Trump, they are going to be met with the issue of medical marijuana and marijuana legalization in the United States.
As the race had so many candidates in it for both the Democratic and Republican parties, the issue of marijuana legalization was very rarely brought up. In order to get the jump on other issues, candidates spoke on it so little, but it may not stay that way.
It could honestly be one of the key swing factors in the presidential race.
Donald Trump hasn’t said a whole lot on the issue of marijuana legalization, and everyone knows that he’s one of those that knows how to give an answer without really giving one.
Back in April, the Huffington Post reported that Trump had spoken with Bill O’Reilly about medical marijuana, and really didn’t say a whole lot about it. While it’s true that he is a big supporter of it, he also said, “I know people that have serious problems…and…it really, really does help them.”
As you can see, he’s backing it, but he’s also playing it safe.
At this time, it was thought that Trump would continue with the states that already have medical marijuana as legal and push to have it happen in many others. The idea of what would be done with recreational marijuana where Trump is concerned is anyone’s guess.
As reported by Mantis, Donald Trump has said in the past that he believes the drug laws of the United States are “a joke.” He believed that the legalization of some drugs (marijuana) would be the ideal way to “take the profit away from these drug czars.”
Last year in an interview with GQ , Trump said that the legalization of marijuana is a very touchy subject and one that can be difficult to answer correctly. He did go on, though, to say that for “medicinal purposes and medical purposes…it’s fine.”
It appears as if the Trump supporters and Clinton supporters both agree on the marijuana legalization issue. While they may not see eye-to-eye on many things, the topic of marijuana becoming legal is one of them.
Still, many feel as if that subject benefits Donald Trump more than others.
Trump will win over independents and disillusioned Bernie supporters if he announces he’ll legalize marijuana at the GOP convention.
— SKM (@sk_muralid) June 9, 2016
Donald Trump may have a better chance at becoming President of the United States than many people think, and if gets the backing of those wanting marijuana legalized, it could happen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have their opinions on the matter as well, but Trump could try to top them all by getting marijuana to the point of being legal in all 50 states. If that’s a promise he can fulfill, it could very well clinch the election for him.
[Photo by John Moore/Getty Images]