* We already know where Gov. Rauner stands on legalizing marijuana. He doesn’t like the idea. At all.

But I wanted to know where the Democratic candidates stood on the issue, so I reached out to the campaigns yesterday.

* Ameya Pawar has already made it clear (click here) that he supports full legalization. This is from Sen. Daniel Biss…

Thumbs up on the Cassidy-Steans bill. It’s the right criminal justice policy, it’s right from the point of view of fairness, and it’s right for the state’s bottom line.

He’s not yet a co-sponsor of Sen. Steans’ bill, but he’ll be voting for it if it ever reaches the floor.

By the way, this is a great issue to help candidates raise small-dollar grassroots contributions from legalization proponents, not only in Illinois, but across the country.

* From the Chris Kennedy campaign…

Chris supports decriminalizing marijuana in Illinois. He believes we should not be prosecuting and crowding our jails over simple possession of marijuana. He is reviewing studies done on the effects of legalization in other states before determining if legalization would be right for Illinois.

* Bob Daiber campaign…

Dr. Daiber is strongly in favor of medicinal marijuana in Illinois. As this current time, he is still researching the legalization of marijuana recreationally and cannot weigh in on one side or the other. He does say he is in favor of a ballot initiative to allow voters to legalize marijuana of their own free will, similar to what had occurred in Colorado and Washington.

When I pointed out that we don’t have binding initiatives in Illinois, I received this response…

Daiber feels that even though it would be non-binding, he would base his decision to pass legislation legalizing recreational marijuana based on the will of the people.

* I haven’t yet heard back from the Kurt Summers people, but I might’ve used the wrong e-mail address. I’ll let you know what he says.

Also, JB Pritzker hasn’t yet answered any policy questions ahead of his possible announcement and it was clear yesterday that the campaign didn’t want to establish a new precedent when I asked for his position.

* Related…