Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley says that although she doesn’t support legalizing marijuana federally, she does support states’ rights when it comes to marijuana laws.
(Photo credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP).
“I think it’s a state by state issue,” said Haley when asked about legalizing marijuana at a town hall held earlier today. “I think that’s something that needs to be handled close to the people, and so I think all the states should be able to decide on that.”
Although Haley’s lack of support for legalizing marijuana nationwide is no surprise for those who know her politics, it’s notable that Haley would be willing to support state marijuana rights, given 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana despite marijuana remaining a Schedule I drug on the Controlled Substances Act.
According to polling firm FiveThirtyEight, Nikki Haley is in second place behind President Trump in both national polling and polling focused on the first two primary states, Iowa and New Hampshire. She remains firmly ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and some polling shows her tied with or even beating President Biden in a theoretical matchup.
While serving as South Carolina Governor, Haley signed into law legislation that legalized medical marijuana, but she has remained opposed to legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana for recreational use.
