Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R), who announced that he will run again for the presidency in 2024, is making a second bid.
Christie, a former U.S. Attorney who served as the chairman of an opioid committee under the Trump Administration, has long criticised marijuana reform efforts. In his 2016 presidential campaign, Christie made headlines by pledging to enforce the federal prohibition on states that had legalized cannabis and making disparaging comments about cannabis users.
He was criticized for his slow implementation of the medical marijuana law passed by his predecessor, even though he allowed it to become effective in New Jersey. He said in 2018 that cannabis policy is a state’s rights issue. However, his position on legalization has not changed much, despite the fact that the majority of states have now enacted reforms in some way, including ending prohibition in New Jersey under his successor’s government.
Christie believes that cannabis is an entry drug to other drugs, and that the tax revenue generated by regulated sales is “blood money”. He also believes that marijuana consumption inhibits productivity and puts children at risk.
It is yet to be seen whether he will continue to support the states’ rights approach to cannabis in this election cycle or if he doubles down on his commitment to disrupt state legal markets. Christie’s record may alienate supporters on both sides, but in general. As public opinion grows in favor of reform in a bipartisan manner. The presidential candidate has, on several occasions, criticized the war on drugs in general.
Christie’s opponents for the GOP nomination are former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis (R), U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former South Carolina Governor. Nikki Haley (R).
Chris Christie, Republican candidate for president, on marijuana:
Legislation and Policy Actions
New Jersey governor (January 2010-January 2019)
Christie became governor of New Jersey one day after his Democratic counterpart signed into law a bill legalizing medical cannabis. He allowed the law to go into effect despite his personal opinions on the matter, though the long-term rollout was criticized by patient groups.
The need to provide pain relief for citizens outweighs the risk. NJ moves to implement Compassionate use Medical Marijuana act: http://bit.ly/q6N8Wu
Chris Christie (@GovChristie 19 July 2011
In December 2010, he announced that his administration and the sponsor of medical cannabis legislation had come to an agreement on the best way forward in regulating the program.
stated that the agreement was an example of “how reasonable minds can come to a consensus and create solutions in our state’s best interest.” We have reached an agreement, which will help patients suffering from debilitating diseases. We are also protecting the interests and rights of New Jersey residents by stopping abuses we’ve seen in other states.
Christie gave a press briefing in July 2011, where he stated that his administration had “very little guidance about how to implement [the medical cannabis] law, and how to do so in a complex legal environment with competing and intersecting federal-state legal requirements and opportunities.”
He said: “I made it clear during the election campaign that this was not a bill that I would have approved if I had been governor at the moment.” “But on January 19, I took an oath as governor to enforce and uphold all the laws in the state of New Jersey.”
Christie asked his state attorney to write a note to the then-U.S. attorney general Eric Holder, “to try to seek clarification for a State like ours which already had passed a Medical Marijuana Law and had promulgated regulation and awarded dispensaries” to deal with implementation of the program.
He said: “Despite the hyperbole of others over the years, I, along with my administration, have struggled to find a solution to achieve what I wanted, which was to provide compassionate care to those who are suffering, in a manner that would not expose them to criminal liability, nor the operators of our dispensaries, or the employees of New Jersey’s state government.” “That’s a lot harder said than done.”
In 2015, Governor passed a law allowing students to receive medical marijuana treatment in schools.
Christie has also advocated for expanding drug treatment resources within the state. He stated that his administration will make these treatment options available to “as many of our nonviolent offenders that we can.”
Christie was the central figure in a U.S. Supreme Court case which examined whether the Constitution’s doctrine against commanding prevents the federal governments from forcing the states to maintain prohibitions on certain federally prohibited activities within their own laws. The governor’s primary concern was to defend the state’s gambling laws. However, legal experts believe that the ruling of the Supreme Court which struck down federal legislation prohibiting sports betting may have implications for cannabis policies.
In describing his reasons for filing the lawsuit, he also made a comparison between the federal government’s approach towards state-level legalizations of marijuana and gambling.
@arianrubio Federal government did not go to court in order to stop Colorado from marijuana, but they did so to stop gambling NJ. It is important to note the difference.
Chris Christie (@GovChristie August 9, 2014. HTML0
White House Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission March 2017-September 2017
In the Trump administration, Christie headed an opioid commission. At one point in 2017, Christie sent a letter to the president arguing the spread of legal medical cannabis is a serious concern comparable with the opioid crisis.
He wrote that “there is a dearth of sophisticated data on marijuana’s potency, dose and abuse potential.” This is similar to the lack of data that existed in the 1990s and early 2000s, when the prescribing of opioids increased across all health care settings. It led to the current abuse, misuse and drug addiction epidemic.
He added: “The Commission urges us to not make the same mistake by rushing uninformedly to place another drug on the market during an epidemic of overdoses.”
The report, which was referring to marijuana, recommended that “Lessons learned should be applied to current efforts to medicalize and legallyize other Schedule 1 substances.” The report stated that the denial of marijuana’s addictive potential was what triggered the opioid crisis.
Christie’s Commission released a report which largely ignored comments from the public supporting federal cannabis reform, and instead focused on promoting drug courts and antidrug advertising campaigns.
On the Campaign Trail
Christie does not seem to have discussed marijuana policy since he entered the race for 2024’s presidential nomination.
Previous Quotes and Social Media Posts
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Christie made some of the most memorable remarks about cannabis.
He immediately distinguished himself from his GOP rivals as being especially hostile to reform, by asserting that he’d seek to overturn the state-level legalization of marijuana if elected.
In an April 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt, he stated that he “would crack down on it and not allow it.”
He stated that marijuana is a gateway substance. We have a huge addiction problem in the United States. We need to be very clear in our leadership, from the White House down through federal law enforcement. Under federal law, marijuana is an illegal substance. “The states shouldn’t be allowed to profit off of it or sell it.”
In 2014, when asked how he would treat states which have legalized marijuana, replied simply “Probably not well.” We’ll have to see. “We’ll see what happens.”
Christie did not seem to be concerned that he might offend voters in Colorado, a crucial swing state two years after the historic legalization of cannabis ballot initiative. He said in an interview in 2014, “for those who are enamored of the idea of income, tax revenue, go to Colorado to see if you would like to live there.”
He said: “See if it’s something you would like to do, i.e. live in a big city in Colorado with head shops on every corner. People fly into your airport to get high.” “To me, that’s not the kind of quality of life that we want here in New Jersey. And there’s no revenue worth that,” he said.
He also made a clear threat at a New Hampshire town hall: “If you are high in Colorado right now, have fun until January 2017 because as President of the United States I will enforce federal laws against marijuana.”
Christie also criticized the then-President Barack Obama for the federal government’s permissiveness toward state legalization initiatives. At one point he suggested the discretionary enforcement might be linked to the “guilt”, which he claimed Obama may have felt about criminalization “since he smoked pot as a child.”
Christie suggested that if Obama wanted to end the federal prohibition of marijuana, he “should go to Congress and stand in the well of the House during your State of the Union Address and say, I believe it’s the time to legalize pot,'” Christie said. “This child from the 1960s in the White House cannot separate himself from his past use and is unable say no.”
Christie has a history of changing his mind on issues. In 2018, he said that he believed states have the right “to do what they choose” marijuana policies, even though he disagreed with them.
He said: “You can’t put toothpaste back in the tubes. That’s an important argument for marijuana, because if you legalize it, the toothpaste will never be returned to the tubes.”
In September 2015 Christie participated in a CNN presidential debate and argued cannabis use wasn’t a crime without victims.
He said: “Look at how people are abused and moved on to other drugs after using marijuana as a gateway.” “They are not the only ones who suffer. They are not the only victims. They are also the victims of their children. “Their employers are also victims.”
He said, “I’ll enforce federal law while you still can put an accent on rehabilitation like we did in New Jersey.”
He said in January 2016 that state-level legalization efforts “send an awful message to children and an awful message about a lack productivity in our economies when people are able to go to work in Colorado while high”. He also added that “kids get high in Colorado schools as we talk,” adding that if he were consuming cannabis as a student and taking math and science classes, “there would be no chance that I could do it.”
Christie said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in 2015 for a drug rehab center that tax revenue from marijuana sales was “blood money” and that “I’m not going to risk the lives of citizens or children to get a few more dollars into the state coffers on my watch.”
He said that he will not change his position on cannabis based on public opinion.
Christie in 2014 said: “I don’t really care that people believe it is inevitable.”
“It is not inevitable.” I won’t allow it. “Never, as long I’m Governor,” he said six years before voters approved a referendum on adult-use legalization. You want to elect someone else who is willing to legalize pot and expose our kids to the gateway drug’s effects on their brains? You will have to live with your decision. But this governor is not the one who will do it.”
He also questioned whether there was a significant demand for medical marijuana under the state’s programme and called the reform “a front for the legalization.”
He dismissed criticism in 2016 about the restrictions of the state’s Medical Marijuana Law after being asked about a Colorado family who moved there because they liked their more flexible policies.
This is a medical program, not a recreational one,” he said. It is not a recreational marijuana program. This is a medical one,” added.
Christie has acknowledged that cannabis can be therapeutic for some people, and said laws around medical marijuana should be “made state-by-state.”
He said that he didn’t want the drug used for recreational purposes. However, he did think it was helpful in treating certain adult illnesses and certain pediatric illnesses. “I have no issue with marijuana when it is prescribed by a doctor and it is helpful for certain adult illnesses or pediatric illnesses.”
He said that in 2015, even though he believed that marijuana could be an effective therapy for some, he would not move to reschedule the cannabis under federal law. claiming he “cannot and will not administratively repair that.”
He said: “I support limited medical use. It is not mandatory by the federal authorities, but permitted by them.” “Each state has its own point of views because they are allowed to do so.”
Christie, who has been a strong opponent of cannabis legalization has also criticized the drug war as a failed strategy.
In his second inaugural speech as governor, he stated that “we will end the failed drug war that believes that imprisonment is the cure for every ill that comes from drug abuse.” We will provide drug treatment to as many non-violent offenders that we can. We will also partner with our citizens in creating a society where everyone understands the value of every life and that no life is disposable.
The Governor stated in his 2016 State of the State Address that “instead of prosecuting an unsuccessful war on drugs — a war against our own citizens — we’ve classified addiction to drug as the disease it is and worked to treat, rehabilitate and some of the most disadvantaged members of our community.”
Christie has also appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher in 2022. He defended his opposition against marijuana legalization when he served as governor but acknowledged that the successor could change direction.
“I would not allow it to be legal recreational drug in New Jersey. I didn’t allow it to be. “And now we have this new guy [that] has come after me, and he allowed it”, he stated in reference to Gov. Phil Murphy (D). “Am I standing in a corner, holding my breath and saying ‘I cannot believe you did that’? No. Now he gets to decide. “He made the decision.”
In a 2021 Interview, he said that he was “not someone who is in favor” federal marijuana reform. He explained that the data on overdoses from other drugs informs part of his position.
I began my Friday morning with @SirusXM and @JulieMason, where we discussed marijuana laws and my book. #ICYMI, click the link to listen: https://t.co/Q8pTDIfd7j
Chris Christie (@GovChristie 16 July 2021
He said: “I have found that marijuana has always been a gateway drug for many people. “I believe we have a serious drug problem in this country. “I think we have serious drug addiction problems in this country. I don’t believe it is the right time for us to add another legal drug to our list.”
When asked how to resolve tensions between state and federal marijuana policies, he said that “nowhere close to a majority” of states had legalized it. “We’re still a Republic which depends on states,” he added.
Marijuana: My Personal Experience
Christie replied “no” when asked in 2012 if he had ever smoked marijuana.
@Fro@TheTeapotParty No, the answer is not.
Chris Christie 27 June 2012 HTML0
Marijuana Under A Christie Presidency
Christie’s recent signals of a willingness to respect the rights of states to implement their own policies are a sign that he has changed in some ways since he declared his intention to crackdown on local marijuana markets as part his 2016 campaign.
The candidate has not given any reason to believe he would seek to reform federal marijuana laws to align with the will and desires of the majority who support legalization.
His record includes criticisms of cannabis consumers and state-level legalization for recreational use. However, his more recent remarks leave open the question of how he would handle the issue in the current policy environment.
Ron DeSantis, Presidential Candidate Ron DeSantis’ Position on Marijuana
The first time Marijuana Moment was published, the post Chris Christie’s Marijuana Position appeared.
