Last updated on: 9/2/2015 10:07:50 AM PST
Should Marijuana Be a Medical Option?
Pro (Yes)
Now Pro
"I do support the use of medical marijuana, and I think even there we need to do a lot more research so that we know exactly how we're going to help people for whom medical marijuana provides relief. So, I think we're just at the beginning, but I agree completely with the idea that we have got to stop imprisoning people who use marijuana."
Source: Washington Post, "The CNN Democratic Debate Transcript, Annotated," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 13, 2015
[Editor's Note: Clinton previously expressed a Not Clearly Pro or Con opinion on this question. Read Clinton's former position on medical marijuana]
Pro
"Rather than using painkillers, which I have used on occasion before, I did smoke pot, as a result of having broken my back, blowing out both of my knees, breaking ribs, really taking about three years to recover."
Source: John McCormack, "Gov. Gary Johnson: I Smoked Marijuana from 2005 to 2008," The Weekly Standard, Dec. 6, 2010
Pro
"It’s time to take marijuana off the black market, end crime and violence related to marijuana trafficking, stop wasting money and ruining lives by prosecuting victimless crimes, reduce prison populations, increase tax revenue, allow sick people their medicine, let farmers grow marijuana and hemp, and give responsible adults their freedom by legalizing it!
As President, one of my first actions would be to order the DEA and the Justice Department to cease and desist all attempts to harass or prosecute medical marijuana clinics or other legitimate marijuana-related businesses that are operating under state laws.
I would also direct DEA to remove marijuana from Schedule 1, the most dangerous category of drugs, and place it in a more appropriate category as determined by medical science… [H]undreds of thousands of patients suffering from chronic pain and cancers are benefiting from the availability of medical marijuana under state laws."
Source: Jill Stein, "Legalize Marijuana Nationwide," jill2016.com, Apr. 20, 2016
Pro
"Medical marijuana is another thing. I think medical marijuana, 100 percent."
Source: Philip Ross, "Donald Trump: Where 2016 Candidate Stands on Gun Control, Marijuana and Immigration," mic.com, Aug. 4, 2015
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FORMER CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear below in black and white and in alphabetical order.)
Pro (Yes)
Pro
"In New Jersey, we have medical marijuana laws, which I supported and implemented... I'm not against medical marijuana. We do it in New Jersey. But I'm against the recreational use of marijuana."
Source: CNN Reagan Library Republican Debate, cnn.com, Sep. 16, 2015
Pro
"As president, Governor O'Malley will... Declassify Marijuana as a Schedule I Drug. O'Malley will direct the Attorney General to move to reclassify marijuana, while supporting bipartisan congressional efforts to legislatively reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug."
Source: "Criminal Justice Reform," martinomalley.com (accessed Oct. 16, 2015)
[Editor's Note: As Governor of Maryland, O'Malley signed a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state on Apr. 14, 2014.]
Pro
"For far too long, the government has enforced unnecessary laws that have restricted the ability of the medical community to determine the medicinal value of marijuana and have prohibited Americans from receiving essential care that would alleviate their chronic pain and suffering. I am proud today to stand with Sens. Gillibrand and Booker to introduce a bill that will fundamentally change our nation's drug policies and have a positive impact on the lives of our Veterans and children."
Source: Rand Paul, "Sens. Paul, Booker, & Gillibrand Announce CARERS Act: New Bipartisan Medical Marijuana Bill to Allow Patients - Including Veterans - to Access Necessary Care without Fear of Federal Prosecution," paul.senate.gov, Mar. 10, 2015
Pro
"I've said that I'm open to medicinal uses of anything, and particularly marijuana. And if, in fact, it goes through the F.D.A. process and you can come up with a proven medicinal benefit to that substance, I'm open to that. I'm not in favor of legalizing marijuana. I'm not. I never have been."
Source: Meet The Press, nbcnews.com, Aug. 12, 2015
Pro
"Let me just say this - the state of Vermont voted to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and I support that. I have supported the use of medical marijuana. And when I was mayor of Burlington, in a city with a large population, I can tell you very few people were arrested for smoking marijuana. Our police had more important things to do.”
Source: Reddit, "I Am Senator Bernie Sanders, Democratic Candidate for President of the United States - AMA," reddit.com, May 19, 2015
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Not Clearly Pro or Con
"In medical marijuana states? I don't know... I think that states ought to have a right to decide these things. I think the federal government’s role in our lives is way too-overreaching...
But having said that, if you're in Colorado and you can purchase marijuana openly, should people in Wyoming not be concerned about that? And I think there, maybe, the federal law needs to be looked at -- interstate commerce."
Source: Marc Caputo, "Jeb Bush Conflicted over Feds Role in Medical-Marijuana Enforcement," miamiherald.com, Aug. 15, 2014
[Editor's Note: Jeb Bush publically opposed Florida's 2014 ballot initiative to legalize medical marijuana. He stated the following on Aug. 14, 2014: "Florida leaders and citizens have worked for years to make the Sunshine State a world-class location to start or run a business, a family-friendly destination for tourism and a desirable place to raise a family or retire... Allowing large-scale, marijuana operations to take root across Florida, under the guise of using it for medicinal purposes, runs counter to all of these efforts. I strongly urge Floridians to vote against Amendment 2 this November."]
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"Well I think medical use of marijuana in compassionate cases certainly has been proven to be useful but recognize that marijuana is what's known as a gateway drug. It tends to be a starter drug for people who move on to heavier duty drugs—sometimes legal, sometimes illegal—and I don't think this is something that we really want for our society to heathenistic [sic] activity and you know, it's just, we're changing so rapidly to a different type of society and nobody is getting a chance to discuss it."
Source: FoxNews.com, "Dr. Carson: Americans Need to Talk about Ramifications of Legal Marijuana," www.foxnews.com, Jan. 2, 2014
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"A whole lot of folks now are talking about legalizing pot... And you can make arguments on that issue. You can make reasonable arguments on that issue. The president earlier this past year announced the Department of Justice is going to stop prosecuting certain drug crimes. Didn't change the law.
You can go to Congress. You can get a conversation. You could get Democrats and Republicans who would say, 'We ought to change our drug policy in some way,' and you could have a real conversation. You could have hearings. You could look at the problem. You could discuss commonsense changes that maybe should happen or shouldn't happen. This president didn't do that. He just said, ‘The laws say one thing’—and mind you, these are criminal laws; these are laws that say if you do X, Y, and Z, you will go to prison. The president announced, 'No, you won't.'"
Source: Jacob Sullum, "Ted Cruz Faults Obama for Not Imposing Marijuana Prohibition on States That Have Rejected It," reason.com, Jan. 13, 2014
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"When I was battling cancer my doctor asked me if I was interested in medicinal marijuana, I said I was not, and he said 'good' because we don't understand the marijuana of today. It is a chemically complex compound and we don't understand how it interacts with other medicines, we don't understand how it interacts with other things you're doing in your life."
Source: Ariel Cohen, "Carly Fiorina: Marijuana Legalization 'Is a Very Bad Idea,'" washingtonexaminer.com, June 27, 2015
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"When it comes to medicinal marijuana and [medical marijuana-derived] oil, I think politicians should embrace what makes sense... When it comes to issues like this, I don't want to be academic in thought. This is about people. This is about families with sick children. Why should someone in my position get in the way of helping a child, if you can reasonably and logically do it?"
Source: Matt Ferner, "Here's Where the GOP's 2016 Presidential Contenders Stand on Marijuana Legalization," www.huffingtonpost.com, May 6, 2015
Not Clearly Pro or Con
"Do we really think marijuana is something we want to encourage people to have greater access to?... If there's a benefit to it, and there may be medically, so if your doctor prescribes certain uses of it, then I'm open to that… [Interviewer: What about legalizing medical marijuana then? That's something that's been discussed a lot in the state out here.”] Sure. And I think that's a very different equation because that's not use of marijuana just so a person can get stoned. That's so that a doctor believing that that particular prescription would help a patient whether it's with chronic pain or a particular disease. Doesn't necessarily have to be administered by giving them, you know, a box of joints. It could be administered in different ways. But I think that's a different equation altogether. I'm open to that."
Source: KCII, "KCII Close up: Mike Huckabee," www.youtube.com, Oct. 17, 2015
Now Not Clearly Pro or Con
"Now, when it comes to medical marijuana, if the experts come back and say we need this for people who have seizures, I'm for that."
Source: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, "Stephen Grills John Kasich on Pot Legalization," www.youtube.com, Nov. 7, 2015
[Editor's Note: Kasich previously expressed a CON opinion on this question. Read Kasich's former position on medical marijuana]
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