Sen. candidate John Fetterman: “It’s high time we pulled ourselves together and legalized weed”

Of Jelena Martinovic

The 2022 midterm elections are heating up as politicians on both sides debate different strategies to achieve their goals.

A recent poll conducted by Morning Consult and Politico found that four out of 10 voters overall said ending cannabis prohibition should be a priority, shedding light on Democrats’ medium-term strategy.

Photo by FatCamera/Getty Images

John Fetterman, an American pro-marijuana politician who serves as Pennsylvania’s 34th lieutenant governor and is currently the leading candidate for the Democratic Senate in Tuesday’s state primary, is speaking out loud and clear on cannabis reform.

“It’s high time we pulled together and legalized weed in PA + USA. More justice, jobs, income and freedom. This isn’t Reefer Madness — it’s just common sense,” reads the description of the best-selling campaign tee, which sells for $35 on Fetterman’s website.

In a Twitter note on Sunday, Fetterman said he was recently hospitalized after suffering a stroke. He canceled all his public appearances in the days leading up to Tuesday’s primary, in which Pennsylvania voters will select a candidate to succeed Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in the 50-50 chamber and a limited-term Democratic governor.

Still, Fetterman — an unofficial spokesman for the state’s effort to legalize the plant — is determined to fight for the cause nationally if it reaches the US Senate.

“It should never have been illegal in the first place,” Fetterman, who has 14 years of experience as a small-town mayor, told Forbes’ AJ Herrington in a phone interview. “This is a plant with no known medicinal overdose. This is now a facility that has helped 350,000 people with their medical needs in my state alone.”

Cannabis brings more voters

Sentiment among Pennsylvanians suggests that Fetterman’s legalization efforts are making a difference.

“If [candidates] support marijuana, they care more about people,” said Casey Lofties, 25, of York, in an interview on Saturday. “I feel like even though they’re older, they’re still listening to the younger guys that are going to eventually make America, America.”

RELATED: Politicians Smoke Weed To Get Elected — Is That The Cool New Trend?

Some political strategists agree that a pro-cannabis approach could win in the race for a Senate majority in both the primary and general elections, writes Politico’s Natalie Fertig.

More importantly, the cannabis issue could bring more voters into the overall election process.

“You’re talking about a state that Joe Biden won by just 80,000 votes,” said Mike Mikus, a Democratic strategist in Pennsylvania. “So many people, new voters or people who… may have decided to sit out the election — if you bring them out because of this issue, that’s how you win these campaigns.”

RELATED: Do Biden’s Views on Weed Make Him a Conservative Now?

Interestingly, Marsha Cohen, a law professor at UC Hastings College of the Law, recently said that Biden could win back some young voters if he decides to sign the MORE Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives.

“Young people may also be the least responsive to pollsters right now because they may not care. That [bill] could ‘talk’ to them,” Cohen told Newsweek.

Paul Quirk, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, went a step further, saying that the President “would come under heavy pressure to veto laws that support cannabis use because he cannot allow it.” the younger generation of voters is being lost, the news agency reported.

“Vetoing marijuana legalization would make Biden public enemy #1 for many of the young voters whose support he desperately needs to win back,” Quirk added.

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