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Beto O`Rourke on Drugs
Democratic candidate for President; Texas Senator nominee
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Decriminalize marijuana; expunge criminal records
He is in favor of decriminalization and
expunging criminal records of cannabis-related offenses.
Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
, Apr 29, 2019
1998 drunk driving: arresting officers say he tried to flee
The former police officer who arrested Beto O'Rourke for driving drunk in 1998, along with the sergeant who signed the incident report, both say they believe now what they reported at the time: that O'Rourke tried to leave the scene of the wreck he
caused.O'Rourke admits he was intoxicated and says there is no justification for his actions, but he has denied that he tried to flee. "Beto's DWI is something he has long publicly and openly addressed over the last 20 years at town halls, on the
debate stage, during interviews and in Op-Eds, calling it a serious mistake for which there is no excuse," said an O'Rourke spokesman. "This has been widely and repeatedly reported on."
[The original police report asserted], "The defendant/driver
then attempted to leave the scene. The [police officer] then turned on his over head lights to warn oncoming traffic & to try to get the defendant to stop. When I made contact with the driver, defendant was unable to be understood due to slurred speech."
Source: Texas Tribune on 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Apr 24, 2019
Arrested for drunk driving at age 25; license suspended
Beto was 25 when he was arrested for drunk driving, an incident that would become a flash point in his campaign against Ted Cruz, and will likely become one again in a presidential race.The police report describes O'Rourke driving at high speed and
sideswiping a truck going in the same direction, then jumping the median into the oncoming lane at about two in the morning. According to a police witness, he tried to drive away from the scene of the accident. O'Rourke maintains that this isn't true.
O'Rourke was taking his date, named Michelle, back to her home in Las Cruces when the accident happened. He failed a sobriety test and was handcuffed. In his telling, he was pathetic but nonetheless chivalrous: When police left his friend in
a gas-station parking lot, a handcuffed O'Rourke asked them to take cash out of his jeans so she could get home. His father posted bail. His license was suspended, and he had to take a bus to his job working at his mom's furniture store.
Source: Joe Hagan in Vanity Fair on 2020 Democratic primary
, Mar 13, 2019
Dealing Drugs and Death: 2011 call for legalization
In 2011, O'Rourke teamed up with a fellow council member, Susie Byrd, to publish a political tract titled "Dealing Drugs and Death," arguing for drug legalization to curtail the cartel wars that had de-stabilized the border. The tract was nobody's idea
of a great political move--drug legalization was still on the fringes of mainstream politics in 2011--but it set the stage for a run for Congress against the eight-term incumbent, Silvestre Reyes, a former border-patrol guard who supported the
War on Drugs and made his name advocating for border fencing. The odds against beating an incumbent were long, but O'Rourke and his new campaign manager, David Wysong, a local health-care executive who had never run a congressional campaign, tabulated
the voter turnout they would need to win--which for O'Rourke translated to numbers of doors he needed to knock on. "How many doors? How many people behind each door?" Wysong recalls.
Source: Joe Hagan in Vanity Fair on 2020 Democratic primary
, Mar 13, 2019
Treat drug abuse as public health issue, not criminal
We lose 70,000 of our fellow Americans to drug overdose deaths. We can treat this as a criminal justice issue or show real compassion and treat it as a public health issue. I want to have smart drug control policy. I want to acknowledge that we have the
largest prison population per capita on the face of the planet, many serving time for possession of a substance that is perfectly legal or decriminalized or medicinalized in more than half the states in the union.
I don't want to legalize narcotics. I do think we should end the prohibition on marijuana and effectively control and regulate its sale and make sure those
who need it for medicinal purposes are able to obtain it through a prescription from their doctor.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Oct 18, 2018
Long-time advocate for marijuana legalization
Q: Legalize or decriminalize marijuana?Ted Cruz (R): Personally opposed to legalization, but states should choose for themselves.
Beto O'Rourke (D): Yes. Long-time legalization advocate. Sponsored bill to end federal prohibition.
Source: 2018 CampusElect.org Issue Guide on Texas Senate race
, Oct 9, 2018
End prohibition on marijuana, expunge records of possessors
Second, we need to end the failed war on drugs that has long been a war on people, waged on some people over other people. Who is going to be the last man--more likely than not a black man--to languish behind bars for possessing or using marijuana
when it is legal in more than half of the states in this country? We should end the federal prohibition on marijuana and expunge the records of those who were locked away for possessing it
Source: O'Rourke OpEd in Houston Chronicle: 2020 Democratic primary
, Aug 27, 2018
Exclude industrial hemp from definition of marijuana.
O`Rourke co-sponsored Industrial Hemp Farming Act
- Amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana."
- Defines "industrial hemp" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of not more than 0.3% on a dry weight basis.
- Deems Cannabis sativa L. to meet that concentration limit if a person grows or processes it for purposes of making industrial hemp in accordance with state law.
Sponsor's Remarks:
Rep. PAUL: Nine States allow industrial hemp production or research in accord with State laws. However, Federal law is standing in the way of farmers in these States growing what may be a very profitable crop. Because of current Federal law, all hemp included in products sold in the US must be imported instead of being grown by American farmers. Since 1970, the federal Controlled Substances Act's inclusion of industrial hemp in the "schedule one"
definition of marijuana has prohibited American farmers from growing industrial hemp despite the fact that industrial hemp has such a low content of THC (the psychoactive chemical in the related marijuana plant) that nobody can be psychologically affected by consuming hemp.
The US is the only industrialized nation that prohibits industrial hemp cultivation. Industrial hemp is a crop that was grown legally throughout the US for most of our Nation's history. In fact, during World War II, the Federal Government actively encouraged American farmers to grow industrial hemp to help the war effort. It is unfortunate that the Federal Government has stood in the way of American farmers competing in the global industrial hemp market. Indeed, the founders of our Nation, some of whom grew hemp, would surely find that federal restrictions on farmers growing a safe and profitable crop on their own land are inconsistent with the constitutional guarantee of a limited Government.
Source: HR1831/S3501/HR525(2013) 12-S3501 on Aug 2, 2012
Exempt industrial hemp from marijuana laws.
O`Rourke signed Industrial Hemp Farming Act
Congressional Summary:Amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marihuana." Defines "industrial hemp" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a THC concentration of not more than 0.3%.
Argument in favor (Sen. Ron Wyden):
Members of Congress hear a lot about how dumb regulations are hurting economic growth and job creation. The current ban on growing industrial hemp is hurting job creation in rural America and increasing our trade deficit. This bill will end this ridiculous regulation. Right now, the US is importing over $10 million in hemp products--a crop that US farmers could be profitably growing right here at home, if not for government rules prohibiting it. Now, even though hemp and marijuana come from the same species of plant, there are major differences between them. The Chihuahua and St. Bernard come from the same species, too, but no one is going
to confuse them.
Argument in opposition (Drug Enforcement Agency):
The DEA regulatory opposition to industrial hemp production is based upon:- The difficulty in distinguishing legitimate hemp with low narcotic concentration from illicit cannabis, and
- the perception that industrial hemp advocates have a hidden agenda of favoring legalization of marijuana.
Argument in opposition (DrugWatch.org 10/30/2013):
- The DEA ban on THC in hemp food products, though characterized as a drug war issue, is, in fact, a food safety issue. No state or country has scientifically established the safety of food products made from hemp.
- Smoking hemp/marijuana with a low THC level of 0.25 percent could result in psychological effects on inexperienced users (children, for example).
- Supporting industrial hemp/marijuana sends an ambivalent and harmful message to youth and others regarding marijuana.
Source: S.359/H.R.525 14_H0525 on Feb 14, 2013
Immunity for banks offering services to marijuana businesses.
O`Rourke co-sponsored immunity for banks offering services to marijuana businesses
Congressional Summary:This bill provides a safe harbor for depository institutions providing financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business insofar as it prohibits a federal banking regulator from:
- terminating or limiting the deposit or share insurance of a depository institution solely because it provides financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business; or
- prohibiting, penalizing, or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from offering such services.
Immunity from federal criminal prosecution or investigation is granted, subject to certain conditions, to a depository institution that provides financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business in a state or one of its political subdivisions that allows the cultivation, production, manufacture, sale, transportation, display, dispensing, distribution, or purchase of marijuana. Argument in Favor:
[Cato Institute, March 31, 2016]: Marijuana is now legal under the laws of [several] states, but not under federal law. And this creates huge headaches for marijuana businesses:
- Two years after Colorado fully legalized the sale of marijuana, most banks here still don't offer services to the businesses involved.
- Financial institutions are caught between state law that has legalized marijuana and federal law that bans it. Banks' federal regulators don't fully recognize such businesses and impose onerous reporting requirements on banks that deal with them.
- Without bank accounts, the burgeoning pot sector can't accept credit or debit cards from customers.
Source: H.R.2076 & S.1726 16-HR2076 on Apr 28, 2015
Page last updated: Jun 03, 2019