Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton plans to reschedule marijuana if she is elected in November, according to a statement issued by the campaign.
While the Drug Enforcement Administration denied a petition early Thursday to remove marijuana from its Schedule I list under the Controlled Substances Act, leaving the drug lumped in with heroin, LSD and other elicit substances, the Clinton campaign thinks that rescheduling the drug serves a higher purpose.
“Marijuana is already being used for medical purposes in states across the country, and it has the potential for even further medical use,” Maya Harris, a senior policy advisor to Clinton’s campaign, said in a statement, reported by The Denver Post. “As Hillary Clinton has said throughout this campaign, we should make it easier to study marijuana so that we can better understand its potential benefits, as well as its side effects.
The DEA’s decision to keep pot as a Schedule I drug affirmed the federal government’s belief that there is insufficient evidence to show that any “specific benefits” the drug might offer would outweigh any of the “known risks.”
Get our Politics Newsletter. Sign up to receive the day's most important political stories from Washington and beyond.
Clinton, however, seems to disagree and the campaign contended that if elected, she would reclassify the drug to a Schedule II substance, which would mean acceptance that marijuana has a medical use for treatment.
“As president, Hillary will build on the important steps announced today by rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance. She will also ensure Colorado, and other states that have enacted marijuana laws, can continue to serve as laboratories of democracy,” Harris continued.
