Beto O’Rourke: “Republicans like getting high just as much as Democrats”

By Maureen Meehan

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke said that if elected governor of Texas, he would push for legalization of marijuana and that he expects the Republican majority in the legislature to come on board.

“I’ll tell you a secret: Republicans like to get high just as much as Democrats do,” O’Rourke said, speaking during a South-by-Southwest panel in Austin on Saturday.

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“When I’m governor, we will legalize marijuana in the state of Texas,” he said. “(It’s) a substance that’s legal in most of the rest of the country, most of the rest of the free world.”

While some Republican-led states have legalized recreational marijuana, Texas isn’t one of them.

According to the Austin-American Statesman, O’Rourke’s comments might serve as applause, but they might also “underestimate the difficulty of winning over the most conservative members of the legislature,” and the Lone Star state has some serious conservatives. Lt. gov. Dan Patrick, for example, has repeatedly threatened to block marijuana reform and sets the agenda for the Texas Senate.

O’Rourke has long campaigned for the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, including during his tenure on the El Paso City Council. In 2011, he co-authored a book, Dealing Death and Drugs: The Big Business of Dope in the US and Mexico, in which he argued that ending the federal ban on marijuana would reduce drug-related violence.

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While Texas lawmakers approved a slight expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program during the previous session, the rules remain among the most restrictive in the nation.

RELATED: Beto O’Rourke’s support for legal weed gives advocates hope for a policy change in Texas

Earlier this year, advocacy group Americans for Safe Access Texas rated its program a fail, saying it was neither accessible nor practical.

Still, O’Rourke suggested that Texas may not be immune to the sweeping tide of cannabis legalization.

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However, O’Rourke faces an uphill battle in his quest for governor when he challenges two-year Republican governor Greg Abbott, whose campaign boasts a massive war chest and has promised a “knock-out, protracted fight” against O’Rourke .

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.