Tom Tancredo Jumps into Colorado's Marijuana Debate
By Robert Sanchez
Created 2012-10-19 12:15

By: Robert Sanchez [1]

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Tom Tancredo Jumps into Colorado's Marijuana Debate

The former congressman supports a plan that would legalize marijuana in the state.

Did you hear Tom Tancredo's voice on the radio lately? Advocating for marijuana legalization? Yes, you did.

Former congressman and Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo is advertising his support [2] for a plan that would legalize marijuana in the state. Tancredo, who says he has never used marijuana but opposes “nanny-state” interference of it, recently began airing a radio advertisement [3] in which he says: “Proponents of big government have duped us into supporting a…prohibition of marijuana, even though it can be used safely and responsibly by adults.”

Tancredo has always bucked the trend when it comes to politics: from running for governor in 2010 as a member of the American Constitution Party, and infuriating the state's Republican establishment; to his capital-L Libertarian beliefs, which led to his drug-policy position. (In fact, Tancredo has supported marijuana legalization for years.) He came out in favor [4] of Colorado's Amendment 64 last month.

It will be interesting to see how the political left in Colorado reacts to Tancredo's position. After all, he's considered a conservative firebrand and he's a staunch opponent of illegal immigration. But now, pro-pot advocates find themsleves teaming up with a man who could be considered the embodiment of hard-right politics. Stange bedfellows, indeed.

For more on Tancredo, read my profile [5] of him from last year.

—Image [6] courtesy of Shutterstock

 

Source URL: http://www.5280.com/blogs/2012/10/19/tom-tancredo-jumps-colorados-marijuana-debate

Links:
[1] http://www.5280.com/tag/authors/robert-sanchez
[2] http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/bd0e9052c0b640d981896dbe30eb3a98/US--Marijuana-Legalization-Conservatives
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVedreyiK5U
[4] http://www.gazette.com/opinion/marijuana-144943-prohibition-amendment.html
[5] http://www.5280.com/magazine/2011/02/down-but-not-out?page=0,4
[6] http://www.5280.com/blogs/2012/10/17/shutterstock.com