In an announcement that may come as a surprise to some – and one that comes right before this year’s election – House Minority Leader (and not-so-long-ago House Majority Leader) Nancy Pelosi stated that she will vote in favor of Proposition 64 in her home state of California.
Proposition 64 would legalize cannabis for everyone 21 and older.
“I will vote for it, but I have not made a public statement about it until right this very second,” Pelosi told the Los Angeles Times. She decline to comment further.
As CNN puts it, “her support for it makes her the highest-ranking, sitting elected official in either the Republican or Democratic parties to back the legalization of a drug the federal government currently considers a Schedule 1 narcotic — a classification that puts pot alongside heroin.”
Other leaders of the Demcoratic Party – namely Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama – remain opposed to legalizing cannabis.
Proposition 64, if passed tomorrow, will allow those 21 and older to posses cannabis (up to an ounce), grow cannabis (up to six plants) and purchase cannabis (from licensed retail outlets). The measure would also reduce the penalty for certain cannabis crimes, such as growing six to 15 plants which is currently a felony but would be reduced to a misdemeanor.