One of the leading opponents to marijuana legalization during the 2012 campaign in Colorado was Colorado’s own Governor John Hickenlooper. Even after the election, Hickenlooper opposed marijuana legalization, referring to it as being ‘reckless.’ I think that Governor Hickenlooper wanted very much to despise marijuana legalization, but even he has to admit that things are going much better than he expected in Colorado, which he did recently while speaking on a panel at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. Per the Los Angeles Times:
“If I had that magic wand now, I don’t know if I would wave it,” he said. “It’s beginning to look like it might work.”
It was the latest in a series of comments Hickenlooper has made signaling what looks like an evolution of his views on marijuana. In April last year, during an interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, Hickenlooper said legal weed was “not as vexing as we thought it was going to be.”
And during an appearance on “60 Minutes,” he predicted that Colorado might “actually create a system that could work” in successfully regulating marijuana.
Governor Hickenlooper’s comments are big on multiple levels. Obviously his opinion is very important because he’s the Governor of Colorado, which is largely considered to be the center of the American cannabis scene right now. But also Governor Hickenlooper’s comments are important because his name has been getting thrown around as a potential Vice President candidate. There’s still a lot of time left for the Democratic primary race, and after that there will be a more official search for VP, but having someone who is high on the Democratic party’s list for VP that also recognizes that marijuana legalization works can only be a good thing I’d assume.
