On 2008 presidential debate stages, Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden said they opposed legalization of same-sex marriage while offering supportive words to its backers. Years later, after the policy gained traction in polls, they switched positions.

Now, ahead of Tuesday's inaugural 2016 Democratic debate, a similar dance appears to be unfolding as reform-minded voters are left without a firm embrace from leading candidates on marijuana legalization.

But unlike same-sex marriage, opposed by most voters during the last contested Democratic primary, the new frontier of expanded individual rights has since 2013 held majority support in polls.

It’s unclear if broad public support will trigger a candidate to “evolve” – a term President Obama used ahead of announcing his endorsement for same-sex marriage in 2012, the year public support flipped – to support marijuana legalization.



Democrats have, however, given hints of support for marijuana legalization campaigners, generally expressing their favor for local autonomy without endorsing tax-and-regulate measures passed by voters in four states and the nation’s capital.

Former Rhode Island Gov. and Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a long-shot candidate, told U.S. News in April his position on marijuana “will evolve during the campaign” and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has yet to formalize a stance.

Spokespeople for Chafee and Sanders, who is nipping at the heels of Clinton, did not respond to requests for clarification on Tuesday.

Clinton said last month she supports states setting their own marijuana policies, a position she took in 2008 on marriage.



Former Sen. James Webb of Virginia and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, both trailing by wide margins in polls of Democratic candidates, have expressed interest in marijuana reform but have not endorsed legalization.

The candidates’ positioning appears similar to the 2008 approach of favoring civil unions for gay couples, offering hope to advocates who lack serious alternatives and distinguishing themselves from candidates who would bring down the federal hammer on state-level reform.

“Marijuana policy has always been one of those issues where the people lead and their elected leaders follow,” says Mason Tvert, who helped lead Colorado’s 2012 legalization initiative and now works as a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Thus far that's been true, with marijuana legalization happening through ballot initiatives rather than in statehouses. A poll conducted earlier this year by the Pew Research Center found 59 percent of Democrats, 58 percent of independents and 39 percent of Republicans now favor legalization.



Adults between the ages 18 and 34 back the change with a resounding 68 percent in favor, the Pew poll found.

“Marijuana has been illegal for the better part of a century, and these candidates have spent decades in office being fed anti-marijuana propaganda from law enforcement and others who want to maintain prohibition,” Tvert says. “It appears many of them are at least beginning to see through the hysteria and recognize that this is an issue worthy of attention.”

Notably for Democrats, their standard-bearers' stances on marijuana aren't much different from some leading Republicans.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush support state autonomy. And the MPP, which is backing several ballot campaigns to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2016, has backed Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a co-sponsor of federal reform legislation, donating to his Senate campaign, his presidential campaign and a super PAC supporting his candidacy.



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