Where Do the Presidential Candidates Stand on Pot?

With the presidential primary in Rhode Island next month, we take a look at where the currently remaining presidential candidates stand on medical marijuana and full legalization. All candidates who were in the race as of Super Tuesday, in early March, were included. Although it will not be until the end of April — on the 26th — that we finally get our say in the race, there are plenty of opportunities to contribute to and otherwise cheer on your candidate as they make their way through nearly a dozen other primary contests between now and then.

DEMOCRATS

Hillary Clinton
Medical marijuana: Supports it, but remains cautious. “I think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes. I don’t think we’ve done enough research yet,” Clinton told the National Journal. Last November, Clinton proposed moving marijuana from a Schedule I drug to Schedule II to allow more research into its benefits and effects.

Legalization: Opposed for now (see above).

Bernie Sanders
Medical marijuana: Supports it. He was the co-sponsor of the States’ Rights to Medical Marijuana Act in 2001.

Legalization: Supports it. Earlier this year, Sanders introduced a bill in the US Senate to legalize marijuana at the federal level. At a CNN debate on October 13, 2015, in Las Vegas, Sanders was asked if he would vote for a marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot in Nevada this year. “I would vote yes because I am seeing too many lives being destroyed for non-violent offenses. We have a criminal justice system that lets CEOs on Wall Street walk away, and yet we are imprisoning young people who are smoking marijuana. I think we have to think through this war on drugs, which has done an enormous amount of damage,” Sanders said.

REPUBLICANS

Ben Carson
Medical marijuana: Open to it. In an interview on Fox News in January 2014, the noted neurosurgeon seemed open to medical marijuana. “Medical use of marijuana in compassionate cases certainly has been proven to be useful,” Carson said.

Legalization: Opposed. In that same Fox News interview, Carson said that marijuana was a gateway drug and that legalization would contribute to the moral degradation of society. “I don’t think this is something we really want for our society,” Carson said. “You know, we’re gradually just removing all the barriers to hedonistic activity. …We’re changing so rapidly to a different type of society, and nobody is getting a chance to discuss it because it’s taboo.”

Ted Cruz
Medical marijuana: No specific position. Cruz had previously called for the federal government to crack down on states that had legalized marijuana or allowed its use for medical reasons. But he later changed his position on legalization (see below).

Legalization: Would leave it to the states. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2015, Cruz said that, despite his personal opposition, legalization is a matter for the states. “If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that’s their prerogative. I personally don’t agree with it, but that’s their right.”

John Kasich
Medical marijuana: Cautiously open to it. “Medical marijuana, I think we can look at it,” Kasich said at a town hall in New Hampshire.

Legalization: Opposed. Kasich has called it a “terrible idea.” While campaigning in Michigan last September he elaborated on his position: “It sends mixed messages to young people about drugs. I don’t think we should do that. We need to tell young people to stay off drugs,” Kasich said. Kasich opposed a failed ballot measure in his state of Ohio that would have legalized medical and recreational marijuana.

Donald Trump
Medical marijuana: Supports it.

Legalization: Has changed positions. Currently favors leaving it to states. “In terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state,” Trump said at a campaign stop in Nevada last October.

Marco Rubio
Medical marijuana: Limited support. Rubio supports marijuana for medical purposes as long as it’s non-euphoric. He remains concerned about the potential for abuse. “You’ve seen how this has been abused in many parts of this country. It’s the reality that there are states now that you go in and can have a doctor write you a prescription for something that you are really just using for purposes of acquiring legally a recreational drug,” Rubio told reporters in an interview in 2014.

Legalization: Opposed. “Marijuana is illegal under federal law. That should be enforced,” Rubio told ABC News on May 15, 2014.

Sources: In addition to various media reports, sources included www.theweedblog.com, and marijuanapolitics.com, and blog.mpp.org.