Ralph Northam in 2017 VA Governor's race

On Drugs: Be open-minded about medicinal plants like marijuana

Northam, the first candidate in the 2017 governor's race to announce his support for marijuana decriminalization, said he believes pot could have some medicinal benefits. Northam, a pediatric neurosurgeon, argues that decriminalization may lead to more research on the use of marijuana to provide relief from pain, drug-resistant epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder. Northam noted the latter is of particular concern in a state with a large military and veteran population. "I'm a physician. I like to remind people there are over 100 medicines that we routinely use to take care of our patients that come from plants, so we need to be open-minded," said Northam.

On Drugs: Blacks are twice as likely to be arrested for pot possession

While Northam was the first candidate to support decriminalization, he's not the only one who wants to open up the state's marijuana laws. [One pundit] said Northam's announcement could especially help him appeal to younger voters who he's having a difficult time connecting with.

On Budget & Economy: Cut spending by $4.6 billion to keep our budget balanced

On Energy & Oil: Restrict offshore oil and gas drilling off Virginia coast

Expanding offshore drilling into now-restricted areas in the Atlantic would pose unacceptable risks to tourism, aquaculture, and military operations. Northam has been a leader in fighting offshore drilling in the Commonwealth for these very reasons.

As State Senator and Lieutenant Governor, Northam fought efforts by Republicans and Democrats to open Virginia's coast to offshore oil and gas drilling, even urging the Obama administration to exclude the Commonwealth from offshore drilling. "Opening up the Virginia coast for drilling would hurt our environment, economy, and people--but President Trump would do it anyway," said Northam.

On Abortion: Protect women's reproductive rights

On Education: Invest in early childhood education

On Health Care: Expand access to Medicaid for 400,000 of our citizens

Medicaid expansion has been a legislative priority for state Democrats since Terry McAuliffe's election as governor in 2013. But with a two-to-one majority in the House of Delegates, and a two-seat advantage in the Senate that was reconfirmed in this month's legislative elections, Republicans have been able to prevent the issue from advancing.

On Drugs: Drug problems are not confined to youth and minorities

Ralph Northam notes drug problems are not confined to younger people or any particular racial or ethnic group. The difference, he says, is that a lot of affluent people who "get hung up on alcohol or drugs have the resources to take care of some of it and to get themselves out of trouble, whereas the lower socioeconomic folks don't."

And use of heroin, which is an opioid, is also skyrocketing. Users addicted to prescription opioids are switching to street heroin for an economic reason: It's cheaper. Since 2010 in Virginia, the rate of heroin overdose deaths has increased nearly five-fold. And white males aged 25-44 are the largest group affected.

On Tax Reform: Raise income tax rate by 1% for income over $500,000

On Government Reform: Nonpartisan redistricting so voters, not pols, pick reps

A: I do not let contributions influence my decision-making. I took on the tobacco industry in the first year after I was elected. There's a tremendous amount of influence from the tobacco industry in Virginia. I introduced legislation to ban smoking in restaurants. My record is for standing up for the principles and values that are right for Virginia.

Q: What else needs fixing in Virginia's campaign-finance system?

A: The first thing is we need to have a nonpartisan redistricting. We need to get rid of the gerrymandering in Virginia and make our districts fair so that voters are picking their representatives, rather than politicians picking their voters, which is the way it is now. After we do that, then we can tackle campaign-finance reform.

On Health Care: No family should be one illness away from financial demise

A: That's something that I have worked on since we were eligible to expand Medicaid. No family should be one medical illness away from financial demise. That's what we are doing to Virginians right now by not expanding Medicaid. There are close to 400,000 WORKING Virginians who don't have access to health care. They end up receiving their care in the emergency room. It is not the place for preventative care. It's very expensive. Every day that Virginia doesn't expand Medicaid, we're not only leaving it on the table, but we're giving to other states we compete with over $5 million a day. Since January 2014, we've given up [billions] to surrounding states. That's money that we'll never get back.

On Immigration: Stand up against ICE; our doors are open

A: I'll work side by side with our attorney general to make sure that ICE is not overstepping their bounds, so that people, especially immigrants, in Virginia aren't living in fear. Something that we are very proud of in Virginia is that we are inclusive. Our lights are on; our doors are open. We will stand up against ICE. We will do everything we can to make sure immigrants are comfortable living here.

On Drugs: We spend $67 million a year enforcing our marijuana laws

A: Yes. I announced a criminal-justice reform package, and one of the things at the top of the list was to decriminalize marijuana. There are far too many individuals who are being arrested and locked up for that. We spend $67 million a year enforcing our marijuana laws. African Americans are 2.8 times more likely to get picked up and arrested and put in jail for smoking marijuana. So, that's a top priority of mine.

As a doctor, that step of decriminalizing marijuana needs to take place so that we can look at using marijuana for medicinal purposes. I led the fight two years ago to use what we call cannabidiol. It's an oil that comes from marijuana, and we use it in intractable epilepsy, which are seizures. There are a lot of potential uses for marijuana medicinally. To be able to decriminalize it and then use evidence-based medicine to move forward--that's very important.

On Immigration: Support driver's licenses for illegal immigrants

Republican Corey Stewart slammed Northam's stance as "blatant disregard for the law." Ed Gillespie said, "Virginia plain and simply should not give legal identification to illegal immigrants."

The issue surfaced when Northam was asked where he stood on a proposal to grant temporary driver's licenses to people who can't receive a permanent one because of their immigration status. "We need to make sure that we have immigration reform for this county, we make sure that we have a pathway to citizenship in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and we need to make sure that people have access to driver's licenses," he said. A total of 12 states allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses, according to a breakdown of state laws from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

On Civil Rights: Backs marriage rights for same-sex couples

On Jobs: Tiebreaker in favor of increasing the minimum wage

On Principles & Values: Religious sectarianism has no place in politics

Northam wrote in an email to Washington Jewish Week: "Comments like this are divisive and wrong, and have no place in politics. We need to be inclusive, that's why I am running for Lt. Governor to bring all Virginians together to move our Commonwealth forward."