John Hanger

Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hanger calls for the decriminialization of medical marijuana and small amounts of marijuana during a Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013 news conference in the state Capitol. Earlier in the day the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws endorsed Hanger, marking the first time the organization has backed a Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate.

(Robert Vickers)

The endorsement of John Hanger by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws should be enough to distinguish him from other Democrats running for governor in 2014 and propel him to victory, the candidate said Wednesday.

“This endorsement marks the movement of the issue of our unjust marijuana laws from the fringe to the mainstream,” Hanger said at a Capitol news conference with a about a dozen supporters.

Noting that NORML has never endorsed a Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate before, Hanger argued that endorsement places him at the forefront of an emerging national issue, and allows him to garner broad grassroots support that crosses party lines.

As evidence, he noted that two supporters switched parties in order to get behind his candidacy.

“We've done some internal polling and I can tell you we're knocking on third place right now and we're moving up,” said Hanger. “People are changing registration, Libertarians, Republicans, are changing registration to vote for me in the Democratic primary.”

Other Hanger supporters spoke of children who suffer from as many as 400 epileptic seizures a day, but would benefit from cannabis-related treatment.

Another, Lancaster County-based hemp historian Les Stack, argued that the plant had been a staple of the state's and nation's founding fathers, and was even identified for decriminalization by former Republican Gov. Raymond Shafer.

“What did William Penn and the early governors of Pennsylvania know that our current governor and legislators don't know,” Stark said. “What did Ben Franklin, Thomas Payne, and President George Washington know that our current leaders don't know? What did former Republican Gov. Raymond Shafer know that our current Gov. Tom Corbett doesn't know?

“Now we have a candidate for governor of Pennsylvania who knows what the great founding fathers of Pennsylvania and this nation knew, and is calling for a new birth of freedom,” he added. “That man is John Hanger.”

And Hanger, a Dauphin County resident, said that places him at the vanguard of a transformative national issue.

“In 2014 the Democratic primary will be the equivilant of the Washington and Colorado marijuana referendums,” he said. “If I win this race, it will be a shot heard round America and it will cause not only Pennsylvania to rapidly change its laws, but up and down the east coast that's going to happen.”