In yesterday’s post about Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Jerry Cox’s Panty Drawer) and his attempt to ban the smoking of medical marijuana anywhere in the state, we offered this tongue-in-cheek theory as to why he took this approach:
From where does all of this stem? To be blunt, Stanley knows best of course! I believe it is purely out of his desire to protect others from second-hand smoke and for his love for the environment.
Well, as was pointed out to me on Facebook by the inimitable Julie McDonald, Rapert’s motives were almost certainly NOT due to a goal of banning second-hand smoke. After all, were that the case, campaign contributions like these1 would be hard to explain:
And this isn’t even including money that came from lobbyists for Big Tobacco. But, regardless, I think finding $9,750 in Big Tobacco money after a cursory search of the Secretary of State’s horrid website is enough to belie any claim — sarcastic or otherwise — that StanJay is anti-smoking. He is simply anti-medical marijuana, regardless of the will of the people of Arkansas who voted for it.
But why? Well, that answer might be found in his Campaign Contribution & Expenditure Reports as well. To wit:
Why…it’s almost as if Jason Rapert is fighting against medical marijuana because he is pretty directly beholden to Big Pharma, whether through the pharmaceutical companies, middlemen, or pharmacists (who will not be part of the medical-marijuana distribution).
Yep, I do believe that is exactly what is going on — Jason Rapert doesn’t hate medical marijuana so much as he just loves that sweet, sweet campaign cash from the Pharma industry and its affiliates. He might have even justified this to himself as he did it.
After all, Jesus has forgiven a whore before.
Altria is the parent company of Philip Morris and other tobacco companies, and Altria Client Services is their government-relations arm. RAI Services is part of RJ Reynolds.↩