✚ He’s Not Blowing Smoke
[ the naked city ]
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Rendell says “stranger things have happened.”
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that “possession of marijuana has been over-criminalized.” Wolf “would support the legalization of medical marijuana” but would not say whether he had a position on those who smoke weed just for fun. McGinty opposes legalization, but supports medical marijuana and “also supports reforming our drug laws by ending mandatory prison sentences that send people to prison for years for minor, nonviolent offenses.” McCord said he “is open to having a conversation about this issue” but would “like to spend more time looking at the research and the data before taking a position.” He “believes we should be spending more time getting illegal guns off the streets and less time arresting people for possessing small amounts of marijuana.” Rendell told City Paper that if he were still governor, he would support decriminalizing recreational marijuana and legalizing medical marijuana. He would consider total legalization after watching how things unfold in Colorado and Washington. It’s already clear, however, that youth-voter turnout shot up in both states. Many credit the legalization referenda on the ballots.
“Hanger has to do something to give his campaign some life,” says Muhlenberg College political scientist Christopher Borick. “While marijuana legalization might be important to only a limited sector of the Democratic primary electorate, he is hoping that, for that group, the issue is so salient that his campaign might garner some consideration. It’s a long shot, but, given his limitations, it’s not a bad strategic move.” The crowded field that makes it hard for a candidate like Hanger to get attention also improves his odds of winning. If just one-quarter of Democratic voters show up to the polls as they did in 2010, Hanger believes a candidate can win with just 300,000 votes. He likes the math. “Who knows?” says Rendell. “Stranger things have happened.” (daniel.denvir@citypaper.net)
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The after-tax profits are about one cent on every dollar of sales. Philadelphia supermarket density seems to indicate that prohibition has had a negative impact. A 2011 study by Trade Dimensions, a company that monitors the retail industry, showed that Philadelphia had 137 “supermarkets” — a loose definition that includes any grocery with more than $2 million in annual sales — or about one store for every 11,300 residents. By this measure, Philadelphia significantly lagged behind nearly all other peer cities that allowed sales in supermarkets. Wealthier big cities like New York had one grocery for every 8,200 residents, Washington, D.C. had one for every 8,400. But smaller cities with median incomes closer to Philadelphia’s also recorded better ratios of supermarkets to residents: one for every 9,400 residents in St. Louis, one to 8,900 in Newark, even one to 8,800 in Detroit. In Baltimore, where the county prohibits the sale of alcohol in supermarkets, the ratio is closer to Philadelphia’s — one grocery for every 10,000 residents. While there are certainly many different variables at play, the corrolation resonated with Dave McCorkle, president of the Pennsylvania
Food Merchants Association. His group has long lobbied Harrisburg to open up beer and wine sales to the grocers he represents, shoring up razor-thin profit margins. “Our businesses in Pennsylvania are particularly stressed at this point,” said McCorkle. “Our after-tax profits are about one penny for every dollar of sales.” But with cuts to the state’s General Assistance program and food stamps on the chopping block, McCorkle sees
alcohol sales in supermarkets less as a tool for expanding into low-income areas and more as a life preserver for existing stores. “Operating costs are higher in the city for a variety of reasons, so [supermarkets] are particularly stressed in Philadelphia,” he said. “Adult beverage sales in those Philadelphia stores would greatly improve the viability of those businesses.” — Ryan Briggs