Bush Flip Flops on Medical Marijuana

George Bush, whose background from a family which totally lacks principles, is the natural flip flop champion, always being willing to say whatever seems best at the time to pick up votes. TheAgitator found yet another Bush flip flop, this time on medical marijuana. They found this entry in the October 20, 1999 issue of the Dallas Morning News:

Gov. George Bush said he backs a state’s right to decide whether to allow medical use of marijuana, a position that puts him sharply at odds with Republicans on Capitol Hill. “I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose,” the governor said recently in Seattle in response to a reporter’s question.

Chuck Thomas, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a medical marijuana lobbying group, praised Mr. Bush as “courageous” and “consistent on states’ rights. I would hope he would be an example for Republicans in Congress.”

Aides said Mr. Bush does not support legalizing marijuana for medical use. But his position supporting state self-determination opens the door to medical marijuana use in some places. President Clinton and most Republican lawmakers, by contrast, oppose all state medical marijuana legalization laws, saying they could lead to abuse. . .

His position of opposing the medical marijuana but saying states should decide is unique among presidential contenders, Mr. Thomas said.

TheAgitator asks “what the hell happened?” They note the inconsistency between this statement and the current position of the Bush administration which has led to it threatening to revoke the federal DEA licenses of physicians who prescribe medical marijuana in states where it was legalized, overriding state self-determination. The answer to this question is simple. In 1999 George Bush was claiming to be a compassionate conservative. Now he is governing from the far right.