As Candidate Pushes Legalization, New Poll Backs Change. The billboards popped up next to Interstate 81 in Scranton and alongside I-79 in Erie late last month: "Legalize and Tax Marijuana Now!!! ... John Hanger for Governor 2014." Hanger has all but hung his entire candidacy on pot, betting that the issue will distinguish him amid the seven candidates now battling for the Democratic nomination to oppose Gov. Corbett. He may be on to something: Plenty of Pennsylvania voters agree that marijuana laws should be loosened, according to a new poll released Friday by the Mercyhurst University Center of Applied Politics. [continues 890 words]
Says Tax Windfall From Legal Marijuana Not Worth It. Philadelphia - Gov. Corbett said Thursday he is not tempted to change his opposition to legalizing marijuana by reports that Colorado expects a $70 million tax windfall this year from sales of the drug. "Contrary to what some members of the [state] Senate view as 'recreational' marijuana, I don't believe it is recreational," Corbett said at the annual "Ask the Governor" forum sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. "Marijuana is a huge gateway drug to the drug problems we have in this country," said Corbett, a career prosecutor before he became governor. "It leads to the abuse of many other drugs, including cocaine and heroin." [continues 206 words]
