"Shenna Bellows would be a breath of fresh air," says author Stephen King in a new campaign ad in support of her Senate bid in Maine. "She's focused on the people from the state of Maine. We can make a change. We should make a change and Shenna Bellows is the change."
Bellows is opposing Republican incumbent Susan Collins. She's behind in the latest CBS/NYT/YouGov poll, 57%-33%.
“We need to end the War on Drugs and reform our criminal justice system,” states the former executive director of the ACLU of Maine. “We cannot afford to wait. We should treat drug use and marijuana use as a public health issue, rather than a criminal one.
'I support marijuana legalization.'
"Maine is already a leader on marijuana policy, and it’s time for federal reform. We need a common-sense approach to drug policy based on science and liberty, and that means ending prohibition… The federal government is spending billions of dollars a year on incarceration. We lock up more people per capita than any other country in the world, and the majority of them are there for nonviolent drug offenses. We need a federal approach that will promote health and safety, including the safety of our children.”
Collins is predictably opposed to reforming the nation's pot laws. “From a federal perspective, if there were a bill in the Senate to legalize marijuana, I would vote against it. When we legalize a controlled substance, we send a message that there is no harm and that, based on all the conversations I’ve had with medical personnel and others, is just not the case… The other thing I’ve learned is that marijuana today is far more potent than it was 20 years ago, and we are starting to see a negative impact on developing brains in the teen years, and we are also starting to see people driving under the influence of marijuana."
State Rep. Diane Russell tells Celebstoner: "Shenna has been a cogent, outspoken leader, advocating for a more rational approach to marijuana policy - one that does not unnecessarily discriminate, fill our jails and waste billions of dollars on a failed domestic war."
KIng's latest book, Revival, comes out Nov. 11.
