On July 31, 2015, Martin O’Malley released his white paper on Criminal Justice Reform, which says, “As president, Governor O’Malley will: … Declassify Marijuana as a Schedule I Drug.”
Martin O’Malley speaking to Eastern Iowa Democrats in July of 2015.
But, the sentence immediately following that one is less clear, “O’Malley will direct the Attorney General to move to reclassify marijuana, while supporting bipartisan congressional efforts to legislatively reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug.”
The week before this white paper was released I got a call from a field organizer for O’Malley, Kennedy Breanne Green, who asked me to meet her for lunch on Monday, August 3, 2015. I told Kennedy I would only meet with her if the topic was marijuana’s scheduling.
When I met with Kennedy, she showed me the white paper, and sure enough it says Martin O’Malley will declassify marijuana. Unfortunately, the sentence immediately after that seems to wiggle. I told Kennedy I was uncomfortable with the words “move to.” I said it should just say “O’Malley will direct the Attorney General to reclassify marijuana.” Kennedy said she would try to get some clarification.
On Friday, August 7, 2015, I got a call from Martin O’Malley’s son Will. He agreed with me and said he would try to get clarification from his father. Later that day, I got a call telling me that Jordan Sabine, a field organizer from the O’Malley campaign would meet me for lunch on Tuesday, August 11, 2015. However, the field organizer, Kiera, who showed up on Tuesday was not Jordan Sabine and Kiera had no idea what I had been talking to Kennedy and Will about.
So, I’m not exactly encouraged by this. It sounds to me like O’Malley is wiggling. On the other hand, I haven’t seen anything as encouraging as this from any of the other candidates. O’Malley just might get my support on caucus night, but I’m still considering my options.
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