Virginia Senator Tim Kaine had a prime-time talking slot at the Democratic National Convention. For the first time, he was going to speak to a mass audience since being announced as Hillary Clinton’s running mate. After many hypotheses about the all the more energizing veep hopefuls — Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Tom Perez — Clinton picked Kaine as a sheltered, vital political move. The swing state of Virginia will more likely than not swing to support Clinton now.
Kaine’s standard foundation accreditations are solid: He’s a white person from a preservationist express, he’s a Harvard Law graduate, and he serves on the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Forces Committees. Also, he plays the harmonica. For those for immigration change, he’s a great person. Political observer Samantha Bee has favored him as a mobile, talking, Spanish-talking embrace. For the cannabis-loving voter, however, Kaine is not the first choice.
In March, when he partook in a nearby high school political gathering, Kaine reacted to an inquiry concerning cannabis decriminalization with this: “I wouldn’t vote for a law at the federal or state level that would decriminalize marijuana.”
Kaine’s home state of Virginia stays one of only a handful few states with zero medical cannabis legalization. Despite everything, it directs unforgiving, 1980s-style punishments for marijuana ownership. For a first-time offense, the ownership of up to half an ounce of weed leads to 30 days in prison. In a 2014 meeting with WMRA radio, Kaine explained his convictions.
“I’ve never been a legalization fan,” he said. “Just for a whole series of both health and sort of crime-related reasons, I think it would not be a good idea.”
Kaine is, however, an advocate of sentencing reform, particularly for low-level marijuana offenses.
“I think, often, for sentences for marijuana and marijuana usage, I think some sentences are too strict,” Kaine said in the same radio interview. “These are often if they’re nonviolent crimes, I think it could be handled in a different way on a sentencing standpoint.”
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