2016 AK Senate race: on Drugs


Lisa Murkowski: Legalizing recreational marijuana is public health risk

In 2014, Alaska considered Ballot Measure 2, which would legalize the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes. Murkowski explains in this opinion piece why she plans on voting against this measure. She argues that "marijuana--like tobacco and alcohol--is big business. Like alcohol and tobacco, the costs of marijuana to public health, public safety, our youth and lost productivity are similarly high. Therefore Measure 2 is less about freedom than it is about profit at the expense of public health."

Murkowski notes that the risks include addiction, impaired cognitive functioning and impaired driving. She also stresses that "research provides some support for longstanding fears that use of marijuana may be a gateway to use of other drugs with even greater known adverse health effects. Whether the mechanism is chemical, cultural or some combination of the two is less well known, but no evidence is cited to suggest that marijuana use keeps young people away from other drugs."

Source: News-Miner OpEd by L.Murkowski for 2016 Alaska Senate race Oct 21, 2014

  • The above quotations are from 2016 Alaska Senate race: debates and news coverage.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Drugs.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
Candidates and political leaders on Drugs:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018