Breaking News:Dangerous Delays: What Washington State (Re)Teaches Us About Cash and Cannabis Store Robberies [REPORT]

Clinton Promises to End Federal Raids on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

Hillary Clinton continues to get the drug policy questions right:
During a visit to Manchester, New Hampshire on July 13, Len Epstein of Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana told the senator and presidential candidate: "Twelve states allow medical marijuana, but the Bush administrations continues to raid patients."

Clinton replied: "Yes, I know. It's terrible."

"Would you stop the federal raids?" Epstein asked.

"Yes, I will," she responded firmly. [MPP]
As I've said before, it's exciting to hear the democratic front-runner taking the right positions on our issues. Clinton has now pledged to fight racial profiling, reform the crack/powder sentencing disparity, promote treatment instead of incarceration, and now vows to end the federal war on medical marijuana patients and providers. That's a rock solid drug policy platform for a mainstream candidate.

Yes, I know there are long-shot candidates willing to go further (what's his name, Ron something?). But the willingness of front-runners – on the left, at least – to take common sense positions on drug policy reflects a growing awareness that reform is not political suicide.

Heck, given massive public support for medical marijuana, and Giuliani and McCain's refusal to defend patients, Democrats would be foolish not to step forward on this.

(This blog post was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

 

Location: 
United States
Permission to Reprint: This article is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license.
Looking for the easiest way to join the anti-drug war movement? You've found it!

Constitutional issues

Ron something huh. It is Ron Paul and he is the right candidate in my oppinion. Don't be fooled read about him for yourself check his longstanding record. Medical marijuana is a political issue and clinton is trying to cash that card.

I was kidding.

It was a jab at the Ron Paul folks who yelled at me last time I mentioned Clinton. But yeah, Ron Paul is great on drug policy.

Look.. Give ur efforts to

Look.. Give ur efforts to Dr. Ron Paul... GO OUT.. REGISTER REPUBLICAN.. VOTE IN THE PRIMARY..

IF Dr. Paul is not on the ballot... Yeah.. then Clinton gets my vote.. and WE WILL SEE.....

I remember a punk named BUSH.. Babbling about States rights... NO nation building, Non-intervention...... yeah!!

Dr. Paul...SPEAKS TRUTH.. listen to him... you are ACTUALLY HEARING... what he will do

Clinton will do as Bush did

campaign by saying she will do what the people really want, like end the war on medical marijauana patients; but if she gets in office she'll forget all about those campaign comments and promises and we'll just be hauled further along the road to totalitarianism, just as has been true with every president in my lifetime. Our ONLY hope is Ron Paul, don't vote for ANYONE else, write him in if you have to, but vote ONLY for him.

Ron Paul's record speaks for itself

Look his record up.

He's an anomaly, when he says he supports or is against something, that is the way he votes and already has proven that the whole time.

I don't understand how any politician, especially a republican can be that way, but it's true, look it up.

Hillary is PRO-DRUG WAR!!!

What she's saying now is all a LIE.

Evidence;

She Co-sponsored the Rave act.
She co-sponsored the Amber Alert act with the Rave act rider.
She co-sponsored the bill in 2001 that (based on Dr. Ricaurte's flawed research that was retracted 2 years later, and in defiance of ALL OTHER scientific community input (Federation of American Scientists report to the sentencing commission) raised the federal sentencing equivalency of MDMA from
1g = 35g marijuana
to an attempted 1,000g
Finalizing at
1g = 500g marijuana.

With this equivalency
1 pill of ecstasy = 25 doses of heroin.
1 pill of ecstasy = 125g/4.4oz of marijuana.

She might talk about harm reduction, but her supporting the RAVE act undermines this.
She might say the drug war doesn't make sense, but she keeps arming the drug warriors with better weapons to kill and imprison drug users and those that would reduce the risk of use for those that choose to use.

I'm looking at jail time for MDMA. Hillary is directly responsible for me facing YEARS instead of MONTHS (prior to 2001).

No anti-drug speech she can give now will sway me to her side.

Thanks.

This is troubling, I agree. It doesn't mean she's lying about medical marijuana, etc., but it's important to realize that she's a risk as far as drug policy is concerned.

Regardless of Hillary's actual integrity, it's a positive sign that she's talking about reform. Issues like medical marijuana, treatment vs. incarceration, racial profiling, and the crack/powder disparity are becoming conventional wisdom, on the left at least.

I'm not saying we should all support Hillary. My point is that she's as likely as anyone to end up in th White House, and her campaign is thus far emphasizing reform positions rather than the usual tough-on-drugs crap you hear from some politicians. We'll see what comes of this.

Curse you Hillary!

She's not responsible for you facing jail time no matter how long it is - you are. Regardless of whether she supported legislation that made your crime more severe as far as punishment goes, you can't logically state that SHE'S directly responsible for the mess YOU initially created for yourself.

Hillary was not a co-sponsor of that bill.

The RAVE act was sponsored by Senators Biden and Grassley, co-sponsored by Senators Hatch, Lieberman, and Thurmond. Leahy and Durbin were also co-sponsors, but withdrew their names.

Try to get your information correct next time.

I could find no record of her co-sponsoring RAVE

I looked in quite a few places, because I'm no fan of Hillary, but I live in a fact based world. There were 5 cosponsers and she wasn't one of them. Two of the org. Leahy and Durbin dropped their sponsership also.

American HOLOCAUST. Make no mistake about it!

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) was the driving force behind RAVE. He's as bad a radical zealot on drug policy as any of those make-believe "Christian" Republicans.

We gotta keep him as far from being president as possible!

I am tired of lying politicians

I wouldn't vote for Hillary, ever if she didn't co sponsor any of those acts, she strikes me as many of the politicans do they will say what they think the people want to hear, so we the people will put her in power and once we do, she will not fulfill what she promised. She is not the person I want runnig the country I live in, I would put her husband back in office first, at least he showed the world he was just as human as the rest of the world, and I know that people were angry because he lied, but who in this world hasn't, his lies wern't really any of our business anyway, and considering that every poltiican has their personal agenda which is not always nessassarly in it citizens best interest but their own, I think I would deffenetly vote for some one who shows that they care for the people, who would rather put away rapest, murders, and violent offenders that people who use and sell drugs, you kown what strikes me as funny, the goverment is responsiable for the manufacture and use of drugs on it's people and soliders, denies it to the fullest and we believe them, they help put it on the streets and now they want to spend our money to take it off the streets, money that could be used to better our country, and the way it opperates.

Billary

Say what you will about Hillary, when Bill was President and she was First Lady this country was doing pretty good. They left a surplus in the treasury, that the damn republicans have spent and then some, all on a bullshit war built on lies. If Hillary gets elected, she & Bill will be back in the White House together again, and maybe they can fix some of Bush's screw-ups. Just easing up on the drug war will probably add millions of dollars to the treasury. I won't say she is the best person for the job, but I do believe she is the best by far of the choices we will have. I will never vote for a republican (with the possible exception of Ron Paul). Of the choices we may have after the nominations I will be voting for Hillary or Ron Paul or I will not waste my time going to vote. I can't think of any reason at all to bother with any of the other lame candidates.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <i> <blockquote> <p> <address> <pre> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <br> <b>

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Drug War Issues

Criminal JusticeAsset Forfeiture, Collateral Sanctions (College Aid, Drug Taxes, Housing, Welfare), Court Rulings, Drug Courts, Due Process, Felony Disenfranchisement, Incarceration, Policing (2011 Drug War Killings, 2012 Drug War Killings, 2013 Drug War Killings, 2014 Drug War Killings, 2015 Drug War Killings, 2016 Drug War Killings, 2017 Drug War Killings, Arrests, Eradication, Informants, Interdiction, Lowest Priority Policies, Police Corruption, Police Raids, Profiling, Search and Seizure, SWAT/Paramilitarization, Task Forces, Undercover Work), Probation or Parole, Prosecution, Reentry/Rehabilitation, Sentencing (Alternatives to Incarceration, Clemency and Pardon, Crack/Powder Cocaine Disparity, Death Penalty, Decriminalization, Defelonization, Drug Free Zones, Mandatory Minimums, Rockefeller Drug Laws, Sentencing Guidelines)CultureArt, Celebrities, Counter-Culture, Music, Poetry/Literature, Television, TheaterDrug UseParaphernalia, Vaping, ViolenceIntersecting IssuesCollateral Sanctions (College Aid, Drug Taxes, Housing, Welfare), Violence, Border, Budgets/Taxes/Economics, Business, Civil Rights, Driving, Economics, Education (College Aid), Employment, Environment, Families, Free Speech, Gun Policy, Human Rights, Immigration, Militarization, Money Laundering, Pregnancy, Privacy (Search and Seizure, Drug Testing), Race, Religion, Science, Sports, Women's IssuesMarijuana PolicyGateway Theory, Hemp, Marijuana -- Personal Use, Marijuana Industry, Medical MarijuanaMedicineMedical Marijuana, Science of Drugs, Under-treatment of PainPublic HealthAddiction, Addiction Treatment (Science of Drugs), Drug Education, Drug Prevention, Drug-Related AIDS/HIV or Hepatitis C, Harm Reduction (Methadone & Other Opiate Maintenance, Needle Exchange, Overdose Prevention, Pill Testing, Safer Injection Sites)Source and Transit CountriesAndean Drug War, Coca, Hashish, Mexican Drug War, Opium ProductionSpecific DrugsAlcohol, Ayahuasca, Cocaine (Crack Cocaine), Ecstasy, Heroin, Ibogaine, ketamine, Khat, Kratom, Marijuana (Gateway Theory, Marijuana -- Personal Use, Medical Marijuana, Hashish), Methamphetamine, New Synthetic Drugs (Synthetic Cannabinoids, Synthetic Stimulants), Nicotine, Prescription Opiates (Fentanyl, Oxycontin), Psilocybin / Magic Mushrooms, Psychedelics (LSD, Mescaline, Peyote, Salvia Divinorum)YouthGrade School, Post-Secondary School, Raves, Secondary School