2024 NC Governor's race: on Drugs

Josh Stein: Time to have real conversations about potential legalization

Josh Stein: Tackle the opioid crisis: billions from manufacturers

[Wilmington StarNews candidate profile]:
• Hometown: Raleigh
• Current profession: NC attorney general currently serving in his second term.
• Previous experience: Stein served in the NC Senate for District 16 and as the senior deputy attorney general in the NC Department of Justice.
• Notable endorsements: Gov. Roy Cooper, Planned Parenthood Votes! South Atlantic and the People's Alliance PAC
• Accomplishments: As attorney general, Stein stopped the rape kit backlog in North Carolina, collected billions from the pharmaceutical industry for their part in the opioid crisis, sued Juul, an electronic cigarette company, for targeting youth in their marketing and held companies financially accountable for pollution and pollution clean-up.
• Key issues: Stein's campaign focuses heavily on making North Carolina safer through supporting the police and working to tackle the opioid crisis. He hopes to protect fundamental freedoms like the right to vote and the right to abortion.

Josh Stein: Rated A by NORML; legalize marijuana & expunge convictions

NORML Politician Info: rated A
Josh Stein (D) summary: LEGALIZE, TAX, AND REGULATE / DECRIMINALIZE MEDICAL USE
• 6/24/2024 Charlotte Observer: Medical marijuana passes NC Senate, heads to the House. Will this time be different?
• Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein said the bill lacks protections and should go further in decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana and expunging past convictions. "It's past time for N.C. to move forward on medical cannabis, decriminalization of simple possession, and expungement of criminal records, but we have to do it right. HB 563 fails to adequately protect kids," Stein wrote in a statement shared last week.

Josh Stein: Sue opioid companies; sue vaping companies

As Attorney General, I have worked to:
• Protect vulnerable North Carolinians from fraudsters and scammers.
• Tackle the largest backlog of untested rape kits in the country, bringing justice to victims.
• Lead the national effort by state Attorneys General to hold accountable the big drug companies that created and fueled the opioid crisis, securing more than $55 billion in settlement funds-- $1.5 billion of which will fund much-needed treatment and recovery services for North Carolinians.
• Hold e-cigarette manufacturer Juul accountable for sparking a teen vaping epidemic-- setting a standard the rest of the nation followed.
• Defend women's reproductive freedoms and people's right to vote and to vote in fair districts.

Mark Robinson: No medical marijuana; no recreational marijuana

NORML Politician Info: rated F
Mark Robinson (R - NC)
Summary: NO MEDICAL USE
Candidate in race for Governor on November . 5, 2024
• Position on Medical MarijuanaCandidate's response to NC Values Coalition Question: I support the legalization of recreational marijuana?
• Response: Strongly Disagree
• Response to 2020 NC Family Policy Council's question "Should North Carolina legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes?" Response: "NO"

Roy Cooper: Rated B by NORML: decriminalize medical marijuana

NORML Politician Info: rated B
• Candidate: Roy Cooper (D-NC)
  Holds office Governor
• Summary: DECRIMINALIZE/MEDICAL USE
• Position on Marijuana Legalization:
• Gov. Cooper told WXII news he did not think the time was right for the state to consider legalized recreational pot. (2/1/18)
• According to the 2016 Nonpartisan Candidate Guide, on the question of whether or not to legalize marijuana, Cooper expressed the desire "to move slowly and study the impact in states that have legalized it." (10/31/16)
• NC Governor looking into the legality of pardons for simple marijuana charges: "North Carolina should take steps to end this stigma," Cooper said. "Simple possession of a small amount of marijuana should not be a crime."
• Position on Medical Marijuana (The Outer Banks Voice 7/12/2021): An email from a spokesperson for Cooper seemed to position the governor as a clear supporter of legalizing medical marijuana.