Hi Daily Kos community, it's Joe Cunningham.
I decided to run for Governor of South Carolina because, for the last twenty years, our state leaders have chosen to ignore our greatest challenges: schools, roads, and healthcare.
I want to bring South Carolina out of the past and into the future. Year after year, our neighboring states continue to modernize and adapt to 21st century economies, while South Carolina falls further and further behind.
And too often, the decisions made by Columbia politicians end up taking our state backwards and result in less opportunity and less freedom for our people to thrive and succeed.
South Carolina currently ranks SECOND in the country in the rate of marijuana arrests. And in South Carolina, people of color are nearly four times more likely to get arrested for marijuana than someone who is white — even though they use it at the same rate.
It’s wrong and it’s time to end it.
South Carolina is one of just a few remaining states with a blanket ban on marijuana. The marijuana laws we have on the books are not simply outdated, they never made sense in the first place.
That’s why today I released my plan to safely and responsibly end the prohibition of marijuana in South Carolina.
There are countless reasons to provide our citizens with a safe and legal marijuana option.
Legalizing marijuana would allow our law enforcement to focus its resources on more serious crimes and more effectively tackle our state’s record-high murder rate. In 2016 alone, it is estimated that our state spent almost $50 million on legal costs related to cannabis. That money and those law enforcement resources can and should be put towards violent crimes instead of low-level marijuana users.
Legalizing marijuana would also end the racial disparities that exist in our current marijuana laws.
A marijuana conviction can ruin someone’s life. It can prevent a person from getting a loan, going to college, or getting a job. It creates a vicious cycle of lost opportunity for thousands of people in our state, and it disproportionately hurts African-Americans. This not only has negative impacts on our economy, it leads to more poverty, more crime, and more reliance on the government. It takes away people’s freedom to have a successful life.
Providing a legal option for marijuana would be a gamechanger for people all across our state -- especially veterans -- who suffer from chronic or debilitating health conditions. It’s certainly a much safer alternative to many narcotics that are legal to prescribe but pose high risk of addiction.
That is why I am proud of the plan we released. But here’s the thing. Passing this plan isn’t going to be easy. That is why I am asking for your support to help make this plan a reality.
Can I count on you to click here and donate $5 or more to my campaign for governor so that we can make this plan a reality?
Legalizing marijuana is simply not enough. We must also address the excessive number of marijuana convictions that have held South Carolinians back for too long. My proposal calls for expunging the records of anyone convicted of a low-level marijuana-related offense, giving people a second chance at life. We will never realize our full potential as a state if we continue to arrest and incarcerate our citizens for something that is legal in so many other states.
Expunging these records would allow countless South Carolinians to get a better job, get their degree, or qualify for a loan to buy a house or a car.
If you support this plan click here and chip in to help make this plan a reality.
Thanks for reading! If you can please click the recommend button for this diary.
Joe
Find out more about my campaign: Click here
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