Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, says he supports legalizing marijuana across the United States.
Vivek Ramaswamy speaking with Bill Maher on the podcast Club Random.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Ramaswamy is the only Republican candidate other than former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to poll above 5%. Currently he sits at 9.3% and firmly in third place, ahead of political mainstays like former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence.
During a podcast with comedian Bill Maher that aired yesterday, Ramaswamy affirmed his support for making marijuana a legal substance across the United States.
“I think we should align the federal law with the state law,” said Ramaswamy, who called the current conflict between state and federal law “a joke” and “a farce”. When asked by Maher (who was smoking a joint at the time) if he supports federal marijuana legalization, he responded by saying “yeah”.
Expanding on his position, Ramaswamy, said: “When you have different standards of law, like, when you have that ‘Look the other way and sweep it under the rug,’ that’s when we actually get an unfair state that can target people for saying the wrong thing, thinking the wrong thing”.
Ramaswamy, also says he supports “decriminalizing ayahuasca & ketamine for veterans suffering from PTSD, to prevent the epidemic of fentanyl & suicide”, and is open to decriminalizing other drugs.
