Every four years, Americans are tasked with electing the next president of the United States. With this comes the responsibility of voting from an informed position on many of the policies that will shape America for the next four years and beyond. One such policy is the position is the status of drugs in America. Legalization, medical use, and laws regarding drugs are hot-button issues in today’s political climate, and depending on who our next president is, how we view drugs in America could change significantly. Many of the presidential hopefuls have made their cases for and against drug use, and over the next few posts, we’ll be looking at the candidates’ positions in their own words. Hillary Clinton has come out in favor of some legalization, the use of medical marijuana, and a state-by-state form of legalization.

• “We’re talking about two forms of the same drug. It makes no sense to continue treating them differently.”

In the United States, there is often a sentencing disparity between crimes involving crack cocaine and those involving powdered cocaine. While the disparity has shrunk due to legislation like the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, differences in sentencing can still exist, and little can be done to alleviate this. Clinton comes out in support of effectively eliminating this disparity by stating the similarity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine.

• “We need to be doing research on it because I am 100 percent in favor of medical uses for marijuana. But I want to know what the evidence is.”

While at one point in 2014 Clinton seemed hesitant to endorse medical marijuana, stating “I don’t think we’ve done enough research yet….There’s a lot we don’t know”, Clinton has now endorsed medical marijuana entirely. Research is still being done on the efficacy of medical marijuana and how it interacts with other drugs and conditions, but many doctors and patients swear by medical marijuana.

• “We know you have an epidemic here in New Hampshire, I can’t tell you all the answers. I don’t know them. But I know we have to work together to find them.”

Clinton spoke on opioid abuse at a rally in New Hampshire in January of this year. When asked what she could do to advance care and awareness of opioid abuse and addiction, Clinton also stated that she would make drugs that aid in opioid overdose treatment available to police departments to help in detox and first response teams.

Clinton aims to put into effect a $10 billion plan to help drug treatment facilities, fund addict treatment, and aid in lowering the amount of nonviolent drug offenders in prison. Clinton’s history on drug policy is relatively unwavering. While initially hesitant to adopt medical marijuana, Clinton now views the drug as medically beneficial. Overall, Clinton’s views on drugs focus on therapy, recovery, and a progressive approach to nonviolent drug offenses.

Sources

Hillary Clinton’s $10 billion plan for treating drug addiction, Sept 2, 2015

In N.H., Hillary Clinton hits on opioid abuse as top concern, Jan 4, 2016

Hillary Clinton to call for ending racial profiling and disparities in crack cocaine sentences, Oct 30, 2015