During his term as governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz legalized marijuana, promoted free needles, and voiced a willingness to legalize psychedelics, all while taxing nicotine pouches at 95%.

Democrats have tried to pitch Waltz as a friend of the working class, citing hisMidwestern ValuesBut his policy record suggests that a Waltz-Harris administration might favor eradicating blue-collar and traditional American vices.

Walz, who was named by Vice President Kamala Harris as her running mate in early August, is the state's Tobacco Tax Act In May, it classified tobacco-free nicotine products like Zyn as “moist snuff,” making them subject to a 95% tax rate.

Adult use of smokeless tobacco (including Zyn nicotine pouches) is disproportionately affected by low-income men living in rural Midwestern areas, according to data from the National Institutes of Health and Nutrition. CDC And the UK National Institutes of Health (NIH (National Institutes of Health).

Jin has also become a popular symbol among those who advocate traditional masculinity, with popular voices saying: Joe Rogan Co-founder of The Daily Caller Tucker Carlson Defend them.

The product also became an unexpected political battleground, with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer seeking congressional approval. control In the pouch.

The left's war on gin has drawn backlash from leading Republicans.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are more interested in cracking down on working-class vices like Zinn than they are in addressing the crisis at the border, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama told the Daily Caller.

“Rather than address the surge in deadly drugs entering our country, Democrats would rather give more government power over the American people,” Tuberville said.

Walz also sought to further increase the 95% tax on e-cigarette devices in 2021, in addition to adding tobacco-free pouches like Zyn to the state's cigarette tax. According to Calling on the American people for tax reform.

He also led a number of policies that appeared to aim at legalizing and decriminalizing the use of illegal drugs. (Related: Washington bureaucrats unleash hell on American men they may regret)

Governor Walz signed a bill into law legalizing recreational use of marijuana in the state in May 2023. invoice Requires a 10% tax rate on retail sales of cannabis.

Legalizing adult-use cannabis and expunging cannabis-related convictions is good for our economy and the right move for Minnesota.

When this bill reaches my desk, I will be proud to sign it into law.

— Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) April 28, 2023

A few days later, he Signed The House's omnibus justice and public safety appropriations bill would expand access to “harm reduction” services and increase state Syringe Services Program (SSP).

The program, funded by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), provides users with sterile syringes and supplies, containers for safely disposing of used syringes, and overdose medications such as naloxone at no cost to them.

The bill would remove all language that criminalizes possession of syringes while also removing any Drug paraphernaliaEven if it contains residue.

May 2024, Waltz Announced The administration plans to provide $100 million in grant funding to combat homelessness. One of the grant recipients is Southside Harm Reduction Services, which, according to the announcement, provides services such as “syringe exchange, naloxone distribution, education, rapid HIV testing, and referrals to social services, including housing.”

Walz's pro-drug policies fall in line with the left-wing trend to decriminalize and legalize drugs at the state level that are illegal under federal law. Controlled Substances Act.

Oregon is the first Decriminalize After announcing a ban on all drug possession in 2020, the state's Democratic governor, Tina Kotek, reversed course and signed a bill in April 2024 that will re-criminalize possession of hard drugs.

Citizens who voted in favor of drug decriminalization quickly changed their minds. In 2020, 58.46 percent voters in Oregon supported Proposition 110, a ballot measure that would set a maximum penalty of $100 for drug possession for personal use. But in 2023, 56 percent of voters Believed The law should be repealed after a surge in drug overdoses in Portland, the state's largest city, where overdose deaths have jumped from 610 in 2019 to nearly 1,200 by 2022. According to For KOIN 6 News.

Drug overdose deaths nationwide are increasing at an alarming rate, skyrocketing from 52,404 in 2015 to 107,941 in 2022. According to Based on data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Some analysts Assert Decriminalizing hard drugs like heroin could generate revenue that could be used for education and rehabilitation programs, but some argue that the costs of decriminalization far outweigh the benefits.

Widespread availability of illegal drugs is “the mother of all drug use,” said Joseph A. Califano Jr., a former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Claimed A head-to-head showdown with the UK National Institute for Health Research.

Califano pointed to Switzerland's “Needle Park,” a government initiative aimed at restricting heroin users to a small area that “became a grotesque tourist attraction attracting 20,000 addicts and had to be shut down before it infected the whole city of Zurich.”

He also said that Italy Decriminalized People who possess small amounts of drugs such as heroin have one of the highest rates of heroin addiction in Europe.

In addition to legalizing marijuana and making needles more accessible to the public, Walz Green light the Psychedelic Medicine Task Force, which studies the effects of psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, and LSD;

“The task force is mandated to explore both the therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs and legal avenues that can help Minnesota navigate the maze of federal laws and regulations to ensure patients have access to these potential medicines,” drug law reform lobbyist Curtis Hanna told Marijuana Moment.

of invoice It requests $338,000 in 2024 and another $171,000 to fund the task force in 2025. The bill calls for “legal changes necessary to legalize psychedelics” and “State and local regulation of psychedelics.”

Governor Walz's signing of the bill paves the way for other state leaders to follow suit. In June 2023, Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey Ordered Law enforcement will make it a low priority to use city resources to enforce laws that criminalize the purchase of hallucinogens.

Governor Frey's executive order states, “The investigation and arrest of persons for cultivating, growing, purchasing, transporting, distributing, using, or possessing entheogenic plants or plant compounds on the federal Schedule 1 list shall be a top law enforcement priority in the City of Minneapolis.”

According to the bill, the Psychedelic Drug Task Force would submit a final report with its findings and recommendations to the state by Jan. 1, 2025. Supporters believe these measures would pave the way for the legalization of all psychedelics in Minnesota.

“If I'm re-elected and this task force delivers its final report, I would like to introduce legislation during that session,” said Democratic state Rep. Andy Smith. said Marijuana movement.