Leading By Example

Add California Lieutenant Governor (and former mayor of San Francisco) Gavin Newsom to the growing list of state and federal officials brave enough to tout their views on reforming cannabis laws in the wake of Colorado and Washington’s just-passed legalization measures. The same elected official who supported medical cannabis (and who made sure that same-sex couples could marry in the City by the Bay nine years ago) now says legalization and ending prohibition is the right thing to do. “These laws just don’t make sense anymore,” he told The New York Times. “It’s time for politicians to come out of the closet on this.” As Newsom is often talked about as a possible gubernatorial candidate for 2016, his ideological shift (in 2010, he said “I’m just not there yet” when discussing full-on legalization) could be a significant benchmark.