Policy, Philosophy & Thoughts

Utah legalized medical cannabis because patients fought to be treated like patients. We should never allow the system built from that victory to drift backward into treating them like suspects, revenue sources, or problems for regulators to manage. I was directly involved in drafting Proposition 2 and the Utah Medical Cannabis Act that followed. My position on this issue is grounded not only in principle, but in hands-on experience with how the system was built, how it was ch

You’re going to have to bear with me for a minute, because this is going to require a little Heather Cox Richardson–length setup— not because I got lost on the way to the point, but because the point is bigger than a bumper sticker. To understand why Utah should begin building a spaceport in the West Desert, we have to connect a NASA capsule landing in the dirt, Hill Air Force Base, lunar mining, freight rail, the Great Salt Lake, public education, and the economy our grandch

My environmental vision starts from a premise that is both moral and practical: we are stewards, not owners. The land, water, air, and ecosystems that sustain life in Utah were not created for short-term extraction or political convenience. They were entrusted to us, and our responsibility is to pass them forward in better condition than we received them. That responsibility does not belong to one political party, one generation, or one ideology. It belongs to everyone who ex

I am a military veteran and a gun owner, and I support the Second Amendment. I also believe firearm safety is a serious responsibility— not a slogan, not a culture-war prop, but something that has to be lived. I do not see a contradiction between those positions. I see the whole point. Camp Williams, 2010. On the range with the Utah Army National Guard, where I qualified on the M16 alongside the soldiers I served with. This is where my respect for firearms was sharpened— in t

Drew in 2007 taking the oath of enlistment for his third term of service, this time changing uniforms and transfering into the Utah Army National Guard. Note: Drew Howells is a medically retired veteran of the United States Air Force, the Utah Air National Guard, and the Utah Army National Guard. Use of his military rank, titles, images, and photographs from his service does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Army, the Department of the Air Fo