Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie attend the Presidential Debate at Hofstra University on September 26, 2016 in Hempstead, New York. (Win McNamee, Getty Images)

Two names, Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani, and what they mean for legal marijuana

Ponder these names: Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani.

Are these names more dangerous for the cannabis legalization movement than that of Donald Trump?

“It’s certainly a reason to be concerned about a Trump administration,” Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said on this week’s Cannabist Show. “While Donald Trump has been sometimes supportive, sometimes not, sometimes falling in between on marijuana issues, Chris Christie has been pretty darn clear about where he stands — and it’s not been favorable to the industry.”

Marijuana industry attorney Brian Vicente, a partner at Denver-based law firm Vicente Sederberg, noted that Christie could have shut down New Jersey’s still-growing medical marijuana program if he wanted to — but he didn’t.

“At the end of the day, even Christie and Giuliani can probably read a poll,” Vicente said, pointing not only to legalization’s big day at the polls on Nov. 8, 2016, but also the most recent national polls that show 63 percent of Americans supporting legal marijuana.

Watch the full interview — with West, Vicente and Cannabist editor Ricardo Baca — above.

Watch the full episode of The Cannabist Show

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