“California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday called on politicians to be honest about legalizing marijuana, claiming many lawmakers and officials secretly opposed the drug’s outlaw status. He noted that drug prohibition had been particularly harmful to racial minorities, who are imprisoned at a disproportionately high rate for drug offenses. Newsom opposed Proposition 19 in 2010, which would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana in California. Last December, however, he declared he no longer supported the prohibition of cannabis.”
