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Presidential Candidates' Stance on Medical Marijuana


By Marketwire - Medical and Healthcare
Wednesday, 23 November 2011 02:32
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"If states want to legalize medical marijuana, I think that's a state's right," said Cain, in an interview with NBC News' Andrew Rafferty. "Because one of my overriding approaches to looking at all of these issues -- most of them belong at the state, because when you do something federally... you try to force one-size-fits-all." Cain's comments, which came at a campaign stop in Urbandale, Iowa, marks the first time that Cain has taken a position on the legalization of medical cannabis.

Additionally, Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson has already come out in favor of legalizing marijuana, telling the Huffington Post in a recent interview that "it's only a matter of time before marijuana is legalized."

In an interview with Outside Magazine, he called pot smokers, "the largest untapped voting bloc in the country," pointing to a recently released Gallup poll showing that a record high 50 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana, up from just 36 percent in 2006. Those numbers could have significant implications for candidates on the campaign trail.

Texas Gov. Republican Rick Perryhas advocated a states' rights approach to medical marijuana, while Ron Paul (R-Texas) has called for an end to the war on drugs, insisting, like a growing number of presidential candidates, that marijuana laws should be set by the states.

David Tobias, the President of Marijuana, Inc. (HEMP.pk), stated, "The most recent Gallop Poll shows 50% of Americans favor the legalization of marijuana, and one WashPost/ABC News poll found support for legalizing medical marijuana to be as high as 81%. This popular support indicates that various aspects of the marijuana industry will continue to be a growth sector in the economic landscape, and our company is indeed at the right place at the right time."

"The fact that mainstream presidential candidates like Herman Cain and Rick Perry are saying that their administrations would respect states' rights to implement medical marijuana laws shows just how far this debate has come," said Tom Angell, spokesman for the legalization advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://www.leap.cc) in an email to HuffPost on Wednesday. "Support for reforming our marijuana laws is no longer considered a third rail of politics -- if it ever was one -- and politicians are increasingly realizing that it is a good move to align themselves with the 80 percent of the public that supports medical marijuana."