“On Drug Policy Reform, a Dozen Republican Congressmen Get an A+ (and 136 Get an F)”
The title of this post is the headline of this new piece by Jacob Sullum over at Reason.com, which provides a helpful summary of the new voter guide put togethr by Drug Policy Action (DPA), the political arm of the Drug Policy Alliance. Here is how this summary gets started:
What do Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) have in common? If you follow drug policy, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that they all rate A+ grades in a new voter guide that scores members of Congress based on their votes for reform. A bit more surprising: So do 45 of their colleagues in the House, including 10 additional Republicans: David Schweikert (Ariz.), Duncan Hunter (Calif.), Paul Broun (Ga.), Justin Amash (Mich.), Kerry Bentivolio (Mich.), Walter Jones (N.C.), Mick Mulvaney (S.C.), Mark Sanford (S.C.), Steve Stockman (Texas) and Tom Petri (R-Wis.).
Drug Policy Action (DPA), the political arm of the Drug Policy Alliance, based its grades on seven votes (see list below) dealing with issues such as hemp cultivation, medical marijuana, and banking services for state-legal cannabusinesses. To earn an A+, a representative had to vote in favor of reform all seven times. In addition to the 49 members who rated an A+, 116 got an A (six votes), 33 got a B+ (five votes), 14 got a B (four votes), 31 got a C (three votes), 23 got a D (two votes), and 141 got an F (one or zero votes). The rest did not have sufficient voting records to be graded. The lowest-rated group consists almost entirely of Republicans, as you might expect, but there are also five Democrats who merited an F: Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), John Barrow (Ga.), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Jim Matheson (Utah), and Nick Rahall (W.V.).
The failing congressmen include Andy Harris (R-Md.), John Fleming (R-La.), and Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), whom DPA describes as “drug war extremists.” Harris distinguished himself by doggedly trying to prevent Washington, D.C., from decriminalizing marijuana possession. DPA describes Fleming as “a committed foe of marijuana reform efforts,” known for “distorting and misrepresenting the facts about marijuana use in hearings, floor speeches and briefings” (here, for example) and for “taking to the floor to speak against floor amendments that would support states’ rights to reform their marijuana laws, improve access to medical marijuana and improve the ability of states to regulate marijuana businesses.”….
It is encouraging that the “drug war extremists” in DPA’s report are far outnumbered by the 10 “champions of reform” (including Rohrabacher, Blumenauer, Massie, and Polis) and the 23 legislators receiving “honorable mentions” for sponsoring or cosponsoring reform legislation as well as voting for it.