Ex-FBI Agent in Illinois is Running for Congress and Smoking Joints

Want proof that marijuana is a major topic for 2018, just take a look at the character campaigning for the 5th congressional district seat in Illinois. Benjamin Thomas Wolf is a supporter of Bernie Sanders’s policies, gun control and is going for that Buddy Holly with the black rimmed glasses. Most importantly he is a marijuana legalization advocate and brazenly proved it in an ad campaign where he is smoking a joint and surrounded by marijuana smoke.

Wolf worked as an FBI agent from 1999 till 2003 and then with the U.S. State Depart in counterintelligence and national security. Now, he lives in Wicker Park, Chicago, is a partial owner of a restaurant and is an adjuct professor at Chicago’s Roosevelt University. After almost 20 years as a federal agent and abstaining from any sort of marijuana consumption, this brazen fellow may be exactly what the legalization movement is looking for.

Wolf, 42, who moved to Chicago five years ago, is hoping his progressive political stances on marijuana and gun reform will connect with the predominantly young and liberal area of Chicago’s North and Northwest 5th District neighborhoods, including O’Hare Airport and suburbs like Oak Brook.

“Not only is Illinois perfect right now but this district is one of the youngest and most progressive in the country…[the district] really went for Bernie and the average age is 33 years old,” Wolf told Newsweek. “If young people vote they can have anything they want, they just need to believe.”

“The government trained me to be strong and mean and suspicious and cannabis makes me break down those barriers and become more empathetic,” Wolf told Newsweek. “Eighty-five percent of the people want marijuana, it’s medicine for God’s sakes that could bring billions of dollars of tax money to the state that we obviously need.”

This year, the United States has already seen Vermont legalize recreational marijuana without a push from the ballot box. New Jersey, New Hampshire and Delaware are all working on legalization measures as well. There is a lot of support for cannabis legalization in Illinois, it seems to simply be a matter of people actually going to vote. If you were am Illinois 5th district resident, would Wolf get your vote?

read more at newsweek.com