SC governor candidate favors legal marijuana

Joe Cunningham - the former one-term Democratic congressman now running to unseat South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster - is pushing for medicinal and recreational legalization of marijuana.

Cunningham says the changes would offer health care options and spin off millions in tax revenue for state coffers.

To Cunningham, legalization solves multiple problems: freeing up police to focus on violent criminals, providing a health care alternative for those who are terminally or chronically ill, and generating millions for a state he says is last in areas where funding has been a struggle, like education and health care.

"This is just going to provide a lot of clarity for for people, you know, and because right now in places that legalize it for medicinal, there's just all kinds of ambiguity. And this is going to generate a lot more tax revenue, too, because it's going to include recreational and medical," Cunningham told The AP.

IMAGE: AP