Trump's Running Mate JD Vance On Cannabis Legalization And Banking Reform: Not Quite Yes, But Not Exactly No

It seems presidential candidate Donald Trump and his VP pick Senator JD Vance of Ohio have buried the hatchet following the latter's 2021 comments calling the former president an "idiot" and saying he feared Trump could be "America's Hitler." 

Trump made the announcement Monday at the Republican National Convention, which is going on in Milwaukee Monday through Thursday.

Where Does JD Vance Stand On Cannabis Legalization?

Following Ohio's November 2023 vote to legalize adult-use cannabis, Vance seemed to go along with the program or at least he had little to say about it.

Though a month after the 2023 legalization vote, Vance spoke on a local TV station. "The voters of Ohio have made their decisions known and we should respect that and allow it to be an Ohio issue," he said. "Maybe Michigan has a different policy, and Tennessee wants to have a different policy. That's fine. It's a good thing our system is set up this way. I wouldn't want to federalize this issue. I think we federalize far too many issues, and we shouldn't add to it."

Vance grew up in the southern Ohio steel mill town of Middletown.

Cannabis Banking Reform Is Another Story

Vance was among nine members of the Senate Banking Committe, chaired by another Ohioan — Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Vance voted against the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act when it was approved in September 2023. He said at the time, and since then, that he opposed the bill. He argues the bill would inadvertently make it easier for illicit operators to traffic other drugs such as fentanyl.

Asked by the Dales Report in April 2024 about his opposition to the SAFER banking legislation, he said that "the bill was crafted in such a way that actually would have opened up access to banking resources for fentanyl traffickers and others."

In terms of supporting a revised version of the legislation, Vance said "if the legislation is better, I'd be more likely to support it."

"You have to do this in the right way," he said. "You obviously want people to access financial services—but if you do it the wrong way, you can actually promote illicit activity, and that's what I want to prevent."

A Yale Law School grad and Marine Corps veteran, Vance rose to prominence after publishing his Appalachian memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" in 2016.  Vance will turn 40 in early August.

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Photo: Benzinga edit of images by Wikimedia Commons