Governor Chris Sununu’s classic style of leading from way, way, way behind was in fine form last week with his recent flip flop on marijuana legalization.
The guy who, a few weeks ago was on the Bill Maher show asking, “who calls it ‘pot’ anymore?” has looked at the polling and recognized that young people are never going to vote for a guy who is the prime reason the “Live Free or Die” state has yet to legalize the weed.
So, rather than lifting a finger over the past few months to engage in the ongoing legislative process surrounding legalization that passed with a strong majority in the House, he finally chimed in with his two cents just a couple days after the bill was killed by Republicans in the Senate.
This is the well-practiced Sununu tactic of trying to have it both ways, like the way he claims to be pro-choice and pro-life, depending on the audience, or the way he can’t decide if he supports or opposes Donald Trump on any given day.
In this case, Sununu is acting like he’s joined the substantial majority that favors legalization, while kicking the can on doing anything about it another legislative year down the road – after the Republican primary is over, when he’ll be free to walk back his position.
And its worth noting his position is stupid. For a guy who was opposed to cannabis yesterday, today he seems very concerned that taxes are low enough on it so the state-owned monopoly can undercut Massachusetts and sell as much dope as possible along the I-95 corridor.
Yes, he’s another one of those who doesn’t see marijuana legalization as a social justice issue so much as a business opportunity. Big growers will get all the state's business, while no provision is made for people who just want to have a couple plants in their garden.
One thing that irked me about the interview when he announced his flip-flop, is that he also repeated that unfounded myth about marijuana being laced with fentanyl, which is about as credible as the stories about bad guys who put razor blades in apples during Halloween. The fact that Sununu doesn’t seem to know this suggests that perhaps he’s not the best choice of people to design our state’s marijuana policy.
I’m glad that Sununu has finally joined the circle on legalization, but don’t pass him the blunt just yet.