A bill’s been sitting on his desk for more than a month that would make it easier for kids in Jersey to have medical marijuana prescribed to them. The fact that he hasn’t signed it yet, even though MM’s already legal in the state and the new bill was passed by a Democratic legislature, is all the proof you need that he’s thinking about running for the Republican nomination in 2016. Even Rand Paul knows better to go full-bore libertarian on this subject while facing a GOP electorate: He wants the feds to back off on drug laws, but he’s described marijuana use as “not healthy” and back in 2010 he apparently told the AP that he doesn’t support legalizing marijuana even for medicinal purposes. Given that the party, especially the younger voters he covets, has moved a bit towards libertarianism since then, Paul might be a little bolder on some form of legalization in the primaries. The dilemma for Christie is, should he be bolder too to make a play for centrists of both parties? Or is he better off being Mr. Establishment and spiking any type of legalization? It’s enough of a boutique issue that it probably doesn’t matter much either way, but if Christie’s looking to build a brand as a “new kind of Republican” (as is Paul, ironically), maybe he signs the bill.
Christie told the girl’s father that he’ll decide by Friday. By the way, if the term “Dravet Syndrome” sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s the same illness that the little girl had who was spotlighted in Sanjay Gutpa’s much-praised recent documentary on marijuana. A specific type of cannabis is the only treatment that appears to provide any relief from hundreds of seizures a day.
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