Pete Buttigieg, calling for marijuana legalization, said he has used the drug “a handful of times a long time ago.”
While touring a marijuana dispensary in Nevada, where pot has been decriminalized since 2017, the 37-year-old mayor decried the war on drugs and said he knows people who have been “shaken” by its illegality, according to the Associated Press.
Buttigieg commented on the outdated stereotypes that some have of pot usage and noted the appearance of the dispensary he was visiting.
“When you go into a place like this, it almost reminds you of an Apple store how tidy and carefully it’s laid out, knowledgeable employees and a legitimate business that still struggles because federal policy hasn’t caught up,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg, a Navy veteran, also said that he has met with a number of veterans who use marijuana to deal with legitimate medical conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, adding that consumption of the drug for “legitimate medical conditions” should be covered by health insurance.
The presidential contender also noted the challenges that cannabis businesses face, pointing out that most banks refuse to do work with the dispensaries because the drug is still illegal at the federal level.
“They have to do so much with cash that doesn’t really make sense,” he said.
Buttigieg joked that he did not purchase any of the store’s products because he was “on the clock, and it’s going to be a long work day.”
Fellow 2020 contender Kamala Harris, who while attorney general of California oversaw hundreds of marijuana prosecutions, called for the total legalization of pot under her criminal justice plan and supports granting government loans to people who want to start marijuana businesses. She has been scrutinized for her record prosecuting Californians for pot-related crimes while in office.
The District of Columbia and 11 states have decriminalized recreational marijuana use, and many more have laws on the books to allow medical use.
