Breaking on Marijuana Politics: Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley touts his progressive cannabis law reform history in a press release announcing a marijuana legalization listening session in Denver, Colorado, this Thursday. The event will be held at the office of Vicente Sederberg, a law firm that has been instrumental in legalizing and regulating cannabis in Colorado. Could this be an early signal Governor O’Malley will call for a repeal to federal cannabis prohibition? If O’Malley does indeed eventually announce his support for legalization, it will be interesting to see how his Democratic rivals.

The former Maryland governor has had a difficult time capturing the liberal Democratic primary base as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has captured the hearts of progressive voters, including many cannabis law reform advocates, with his positive Drug War reform statements and policy proposals. Frontrunner Hillary Clinton has locked up the establishment Democratic support, so long as Vice-President Joe Biden stays out of the race.

Governor O’Malley, who does have a good history on marijuana policy, could be sensing an opportunity to garner support among Democratic primary voters (who overwhelmingly support sensible federal marijuana laws) and increase his name recognition by being the first presidential mainstream candidate to clearly and unequivocally call for marijuana legalization, while Bernie Sanders and Rand Paul being the closest to do so thus far.

The press release sent out by the O’Malley campaign: