Too many advisors  telling him he will look soft if he does this. I accept that the Right will take every single word he utters about cannabis out of context and torment him with it for years (recall the "deficit will sort itself out" debacle as an example of a quote out of context gone wild)
But I contest that a principled response as suggested by this writer will be appreciated by the majority in the long run resulting ultimately in net societal and political gain.
Just my opinion