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Republican Larry Tighe of Wheeling believes West Virginia lawmakers need a new perspective for improving the state's finances, and it starts with legalizing recreational marijuana.
Tighe has filed to run this year on the GOP ticket for a 3rd District House of Delegates seat.
"I don't believe our current representatives are up to the task," he said. "They don't think outside the box. I don't think their solutions are any more than what's been offered the last 50 years.
"If you offer the same thing over and over again, that's duplicity that will not work. I don't think they're very imaginative."
Tighe favors the legalization of marijuana, and believes it should be grown on state-owned properties farmed by state employees, such as at the West Virginia University farm. The production should come under the control of the Commission of Agriculture, and the product sold to retailers, he said.
Tighe envisions the farms fenced so minors cannot get inside, and State Police guarding the property. He suggested the employees would have to be checked upon leaving work to make certain they weren't transporting out any marijuana plants to sell illegally.
"This will bring in a large amount of tax revenue, and will supply the tax base for improving roads and paying teachers," Tighe said. "It could also reduce our opioid problem because marijuana is not physically addicting."
Tighe said the resulting tax revenue could lead to the reduction or elimination of other taxes in the state. He favors the abolishment of property taxes on cars and motorcycles.
Tighe previously was elected a member of the West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee, and the Ohio County Republican Executive Committee.
He has studied international relations and comparative politics at The Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota; nursing and mental health technology at Belmont Technical College; industrial and labor relations at West Virginia University; and political science at University of Charleston.