“As a guy who is a conservative, sure, a lot of thought went into this,” he said. “I think that cannabis is the last great states’ rights issue of my lifetime, and I am a guy who believes in states’ rights. …

“At the end of the day, I view it as any other thing that should be regulated, and believe that if it is done right, it helps society more than it harms; it generates tax; and it creates jobs.”

What he doesn’t believe is that marijuana is a gateway drug.

“It’s preposterous. People have a propensity for addiction; you have a propensity for addiction, and I have a propensity for addiction,” the city councilor said. “Whether it is gambling, sex, alcohol, drugs, whatever it is, people who are going to be addicted to things are going to be addicted.

“And we need to pay tremendous attention to that with patient education and in ensuring that we have good substance abuse services and educate young people on the risks of these things. But no, the gateway drug conversation is preposterous.”

Prior to joining Harvest in September, Kimbro was part of a working group put together by the Mayor’s Office to come up with medical marijuana policies for the city. He now recuses himself from all medical marijuana issues that come before the City Council.