A Republican running to become Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor says that legalizing marijuana would be “catastrophic” for the state, claiming it would increase the size of the illegal market, undermine job creation and harm public health.
Jason Richey, who won the primary this week for the GOP lieutenant governor nomination, criticized Democrats for seeking to raise needed revenue for the state through cannabis legalization.
“These budgets that are 7 billion over how much we bring in, and then the answer is, ‘we’re going to legalize drugs,’ which is going to be catastrophic,” he said on WILK radio’s Bob Cordaro Show.
“We know from Colorado, for instance, that the black market quadruples the amount of supply into a state when marijuana gets legalized,” Richey claimed. “Employers don’t want to come to the state because they don’t want a workforce on drugs. DUI, or impaired driving up, mental health up, ER visits up. I mean, who wants that?”
The GOP candidate said that scenario is the “vision” of incumbent Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), who supports legalizing cannabis.
“The Dems are this close to realizing it. And that’s why Stacy and I have stepped up,” he said, referring to Republican gubernatorial nominee Stacy Garrity.
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