Aric Putnam

Drug Policy

Cannabis is currently classified as a Schedule I drug along with substances like MDMA and heroin, but researchers know cannabis causes far less harm than those drugs and can even be beneficial for some medical conditions. Cannabis prohibition hasn’t been fairly enforced either, and has only deepened our country’s racial divide: arrests for cannabis use have fallen heavily on Black Americans, despite the fact that Black people and white people use cannabis at similar rates. Learn more

We need to be smart about how we legalize cannabis. We don’t need another extension of big pharma, with corporate farms crushing small businesses. We need to have reasonable rules to prevent underage access and impaired driving, rules like the ones we have for alcohol. Other states have solved these issues, and we can too. Colorado, for example, uses the tax money it raises from cannabis sales to fund schools, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and homelessness prevention. Two-thirds of all Americans believe cannabis should be legal, and eleven states and Washington, D.C., have already legalized it. Minnesota should join them. Learn more

Environment / Energy

We need a comprehensive solution to this crisis, to protect Minnesota’s precious air, land, and water. It’s not just an issue of energy policy, though that’s a big part of it. While we reduce dependency on fossil fuels and shrink our carbon footprint we need to intentionally pursue dematerialization and decarbonization. We can accomplish some of this with newer, greener technologies, but we must also make better use of the ones we already have. For example, switching to electronic medical records has already significantly decreased the amount of paper we use, and we can and should also incentivize agriculture that sequesters carbon from the atmosphere. Politicians in the pockets of polluters will try to force a false decision between the environment and the economy. That’s not a true choice. Efficiency and sustainable practices are key to a strong economy and our future. We won’t be fooled, and we won’t wait. Learn more

Healthcare

Nearly 300,000 Minnesotans don’t have health insurance. When people don’t have healthcare, they typically miss those routine checks that can catch illness before it gets worse or have to use the emergency room for basic health needs. This situation isn’t just inhumane. It is also incredibly expensive for the rest of us. So many of the rest of us are underinsured or work just to pay our premiums. No one should have to choose between basic necessities and taking care of their health. Learn more

Housing

The answer to our affordable housing crisis is complex. We need more options for affordable housing, but the problem goes deeper than the housing supply. We need to reform how we fund and oversee both our housing options and how we help those experiencing homelessness. Right now, a patchwork of dedicated volunteers is stretched thin supplying a temporary remedy to a problem that is continuous and growing in harm. Learn more

Taxes / Budget

Look, the fraud we’re seeing in our government is outrageous, and I’m fighting for real accountability. I’m a chief author of a bill to create an Office of the Inspector General, an independent office removed from politics whose whole job is to expose fraud. I’m also toughening penalties and pushing to ban any Minnesota politician convicted of fraud from ever running again. Learn more

So many of us are suffering with rising prices and a cost of living that just seems to keep getting higher. A lot of these challenges result from forces beyond our control – but even though we didn’t cause the problem, we can try to make it hurt less and keep more money in the pockets of families, seniors, and small businesses. Learn more