ELECTION ’12//CONGRESS 15
May 10, 2012 | I charged my opponent with a crime, because I got high. I accused a mediocre conservative columnist of giving campaign contributions to my opponent, because I got high…because I got him, because I got, because I got high.

Nobody has ever accused Rep. Pete Stark of toking up, but aside from seniors, who adore him, the marijuana lobby has long seen the 40-year congressman as a defender of their agenda for safe access to cannabis.

The group, as detailed this week in the Huffington Post, may become an unlikely supporter for Stark as he attempts this June to hold off an assault, aided in large part by his own unforced errors, from Dublin Councilman Eric Swalwell, a fellow Democrat.

“Pot advocates have already been hard hit by the retirement announcements of Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who’ve long lobbied to remove marijuana from the list of federally regulated substances,” noted the article.

The thrust of Stark’s specific support for medical marijuana dispensary has always been more about the financial aspects of the burgeoning pot business. Last October, he offered a bill that would help dispensaries deduct business expenses and allow them to begin providing detailed business receipts that would that ultimately aid the IRS in collecting taxes.

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