Politician Info
A Richard Rivette (R - NC) LEGALIZE, TAX, AND REGULATE DECRIMINALIZE MEDICAL USE
Position on Marijuana Legalization

From his campaign website: I don't smoke marijuana. I have no interest in doing so. Our national leadership now recognizes that marijuana cultivation, regulation, and sale can take place without mass hysteria. Many states are decriminalizing pot. North Carolina must end its war on pot use now. We will reap massive benefits. North Carolina is a prime grower of tobacco. Our state could have a legal, regulated economy of growing marijuana that ensures product safety and compliance. It will eliminate drug dealing. It will eliminate a third or more of the arrests for petty possession that leads to destroyed lives. We can institute recovery programs for addicts from the tax dollars recovered from sales. We tax it just like tobacco and liquor. 

Comments

Responses to NC NORML's 2020 Questionnaire:

Do you support prohibiting access to marijuana (cannabis) by persons younger than 21 years, unless for evidence-based medical applications prescribed by a healthcare provider and with parental consent? YES

Research reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states with legalized cannabis saw a reduction in opioid use and opioid overdose deaths. Would you consider legalizing medical cannabis as a strategy to reduce opioid use? YES

According to the Cato Institute, North Carolina spent ~ $263.3 million in state and local dollars to enforce cannabis laws in 2016. Meanwhile, the American Journal of Drug Alcohol Abuse found that arrestees who tested positive for THC had low incidents of aggressive crime. Aggressive crimes were associated with self-reported use of alcohol. Would you consider decriminalizing possession of cannabis since its use results in less aggression than legal alcohol? YES

A Mayo Clinic study has shown that cannabis has lower addiction rates than alcohol (Nicotine 32%; Heroin 23%; Cocaine 17%; Alcohol 15%; Cannabis 9%). Do you agree that adults should have the right to use cannabis? YES

Contradicting the myth that cannabis is a gateway drug, the RAND Corporation reported in 2012 that the use of cocaine dropped 50% as cannabis use increased 40%. Cannabis is associated with lower use of hard drugs and is not a gateway drug. Would you consider legalizing adult use of cannabis? YES

Thank you for completing this questionnaire. If you would like to say more about your stance on changing NC law with respect to cannabis, you may do so here:

If we legalize marijuana an issue commercial growing licenses and personal growing licenses we can eliminate a lot of problems with gangs and crime. Then we can use those funds to fund students in psychology and social work who want to go into counseling and have them trade their tuition off for spending time in our state counseling people to get them off of opioids and harder higher-level drugs. This also relieves the police and court system of much of their docket. Then we can focus on truly violent crimes.

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