With the 2016 presidential election closing in quick, it’s easy to get lost in the sound bites. Campaign chatter aside, it’s time to take a closer look at where candidates stand on the legal status of marijuana, shall we? First up, Hillary Clinton with a nuanced, almost-progressive-but-leave-some-wiggle-room stance on legalization.
“What the states are doing needs to be supported,” she said. “I absolutely support all the states that are moving toward medical marijuana, moving toward legalizing it for recreation use, but I want to see what the states learn from that experience. There are still a lot of questions we have to answer at the federal level. Let’s take it off the Schedule I and put it on a lower schedule so we can actually do research about it.”
So, Hillary is not in full support of open access to marijuana especially at the federal level. Basically, she’s seems fine with letting the states implementing their own laws and regulations. The downside is when state and federal regulations conflict, such as the sticky wicket which occurs when federal banking laws prohibit business with legal marijuana enterprises.
Still, with Clinton’s calling for the removal of marijuana’s Schedule I classification, it does open the door for medical research to finally get underway in full swing. This signifies a slow but steady course forward to the future of legalization. That, and she somehow got Snoop Dogg on her campaign bandwagon.
More from Hillary:
Now for Bernie! What can we say, he’s the most progressive candidate out there but it is interesting that his original position was almost as non-committal as Hillary’s just a few months ago. Then in October 2015, the mild-mannered Senator from Vermont came out strong for full legalization on the federal level including filing the “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2015,” which would amend the Controlled Substances Act to remove any mention of marijuana from the law altogether.
“In my view, states should have the right to regulate marijuana the same way that state and local laws now govern the sale of alcohol and tobacco. And among other things, that means that recognized businesses in states that have legalized marijuana should be fully able to use the banking system without fear of federal prosecution.”
Way to go, Bernie! Here’s his take:
