Who?
Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT)
LISTEN: Laslo & Welch
Ask a Pol asks:
Do you have any thoughts on the DEA — Drug Enforcement Administration — moving to reschedule marijuana?
Key Welch:
“I'm in favor,” Sen. Peter Welch exclusively told Ask a Pol. “Everybody knows the War on Drugs was way overbroad when it came to marijuana, and it did a lot of harm, and hard to see what good it did. And the overscheduling of it was a grave mistake.”
Support SAFER Banking?
“Yes,” Welch told us.
Caught our ear:
“The overscheduling of it was a grave mistake. It just isn't the same as hardcore drugs,” Welch told us. “So this is long overdue.”
Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Peter Welch
SCENE: Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo catches up with Sen. Peter Welch as he walks across the grounds of the US Capitol.
Matt Laslo: “Curious your thoughts on the DEA looking to reschedule marijuana?”
Peter Welch: “I'm in favor.”
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ML: “Yeah? Cause I mean — cause a lot of Democrats, like — are you with [Sens.] Booker and Schumer on the clemency part wanting, fighting for clemency for past convictions? Cause I'm curious if you all, if Dems lose leverage with the administration.”
PW: “Yeah, I mean — look, everybody knows the ‘war on drugs’ was way overbroad when it came to marijuana, and it did a lot of harm and hard to see what good it did. And the overscheduling of it was a grave mistake. It just isn't the same as hardcore drugs. So this is long overdue.”
ML: “Yeah?”
PW: “And the prosecutions that were, in effect, treating marijuana as something much worse than it was, we should address that.”
ML: “Yeah?”
PW: “So, you know, I'm inclined to support that.”
ML: “And I take it you're with your party on SAFER Banking?”
PW: “Yes.”
ML: “Yeah?”
PW: “Yeah.”
ML: “Yep.”
PW: “Thanks.”
ML: “Preciate ya, sir. Have a good one.”
Andrey Beregovskiy and Walken Whalen contributed to this report.
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