Topics in the News: Drug War
Chris Dodd on Drugs
: Dec 1, 2007
Reduce sentencing disparity for crack cocaine retroactively
Q: The US Sentencing Commission recently limited the disparity in sentencing guidelines for those convicted of crimes involving crack cocaine versus crimes involving powder cocaine. Should that change be retroactive? CLINTON: I believe we've got to
decrease the disparity that exists. But I have problems with retroactivity.
DODD: I'd be inclined to say yes on the retroactivity.
EDWARDS: I'm not just inclined to say yes; the answer is yes, absolutely; it should be retroactive.
KUCINICH: Yes.
Click for Chris Dodd on other issues.
Source: 2007 Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum
John Edwards on Drugs
: Dec 1, 2007
Reduce sentencing disparity for crack cocaine retroactively
Q: The US Sentencing Commission recently limited the disparity in sentencing guidelines for those convicted of crimes involving crack cocaine versus crimes involving powder cocaine. Should that change be retroactive? CLINTON: I believe we've got to
decrease the disparity that exists. But I have problems with retroactivity.
DODD: I'd be inclined to say yes on the retroactivity.
EDWARDS: I'm not just inclined to say yes; the answer is yes, absolutely; it should be retroactive.
KUCINICH: Yes.
Click for John Edwards on other issues.
Source: 2007 Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum
Dennis Kucinich on Drugs
: Dec 1, 2007
Reduce sentencing disparity for crack cocaine retroactively
Q: The US Sentencing Commission recently limited the disparity in sentencing guidelines for those convicted of crimes involving crack cocaine versus crimes involving powder cocaine. Should that change be retroactive? CLINTON: I believe we've got to
decrease the disparity that exists. But I have problems with retroactivity.
DODD: I'd be inclined to say yes on the retroactivity.
EDWARDS: I'm not just inclined to say yes; the answer is yes, absolutely; it should be retroactive.
KUCINICH: Yes.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: 2007 Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum
Ron Paul on Drugs
: Sep 27, 2007
Inner-city minorities are punished unfairly in war on drugs
Q: What policy would you support to guarantee young Black and Latino men a fairer equal justice system? A: A system designed to protect individual liberty will have no punishments for any group and no privileges. Today, I think inner-city folks and
minorities are punished unfairly in the war on drugs. For instance, Blacks make up 14% of those who use drugs, yet 36 percent of those arrested are Blacks and it ends up that 63% of those who finally end up in prison are Blacks. This has to change.
We don't have to have more courts and more prisons. We need to repeal the whole war on drugs. It isn't working. We have already spent over $400 billion since the early 1970s, and it is wasted money. Prohibition didn't work. Prohibition on drugs
doesn't work. So we need to come to our senses. And, absolutely, it's a disease. We don't treat alcoholics like this. This is a disease, and we should orient ourselves to this. That is one way you could have equal justice under the law.
Click for Ron Paul on other issues.
Source: 2007 GOP Presidential Forum at Morgan State University
Ron Paul on Drugs
: Sep 17, 2007
$500B on War on Drugs since 1970s has been a total failure
On the issue of drugs, we have spent nearly five hundred billion dollars on the War on Drugs, since the 1970s. Total failure. Some day, we have to admit it. Today, we have the federal government going into states that have legal medical marijuana,
arresting people--undermining state laws--arresting people who use marijuana when they're dying with cancer and AIDS, and it's done with, as a compassionate conservative. And it doesn't work.What it does, it removes the ability to states to do their
things, and also introduces the idea that it's the federal government that will get to decide whether we get to take vitamins, and alternative medical care, or whatever.
Most of our history, believe it or not, had no drug laws. Prohibition has been an absolute failure for alcohol. Drug addiction is a medical problem. It's not a problem of the law.
Click for Ron Paul on other issues.
Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
Chris Dodd on Drugs
: Sep 13, 2007
Decriminalize marijuana but don't legalize it
Let me go beyond marijuana here in terms of crack cocaine or powder cocaine, where we have differentials in prison sentences here. So I would decriminalize, or certainly advocate as president, the decriminalization of statutes
that would incarcerate or severely penalize people for using marijuana. I know there are a lot of people across the political spectrum who would just totally legalize it. I don't go that far.
Click for Chris Dodd on other issues.
Source: Huffington Post Mash-Up: 2007 Democratic on-line debate
Chris Dodd on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Alcohol problems significant; keep drinking age at 21
Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..
RICHARDSON:
No, I wouldn't lower it. I think you need a dual approach: strong law enforcement, but you also have to have substance abuse treatment.
GRAVEL: I think we should lower it. Anybody that can go fight and die for this country should be able to drink.
KUCINICH: Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.
Q: No on 18?
OBAMA: No.
EDWARDS: What was the question?
Q: Lower the drinking age to 18?
EDWARDS: I would not.
Click for Chris Dodd on other issues.
Source: [Xref Biden] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
Joe Biden on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Absolutely do not lower drinking age from 21
Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical. This is a gigantic problem, just like the drug issue. And the idea that we're going to suggest that it makes good sense to move the age down to 18 I find to be counterproductive
I would not do that.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming.
GRAVEL: I think we should lower it. Anybody that can go fight and die for this country should
be able to drink.
KUCINICH: Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.
Q: No on 18?
OBAMA: No.
EDWARDS: What was the question?
Q: Lower the drinking age to 18?
EDWARDS: I would not.
Click for Joe Biden on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth College
Barack Obama on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Do not lower drinking age from 21 to 18
Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..
RICHARDSON:
No, I wouldn't lower it. I think you need a dual approach: strong law enforcement, but you also have to have substance abuse treatment.
GRAVEL: I think we should lower it. Anybody that can go fight and die for this country should be able to drink.
KUCINICH: Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.
Q: No on 18?
OBAMA: No.
EDWARDS: What was the question?
Q: Lower the drinking age to 18?
EDWARDS: I would not.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: [Xref Biden] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
Bill Richardson on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Supports national ban on smoking in public places
Q: Over 400,000 Americans have premature death due to smoking or secondhand smoke. Who would favor a national law to ban smoking in all public places?BIDEN: Yes. I would ban--in all public [places], nationally.
DODD: 3,000 kids start smoking every
day in this country.
RICHARDSON: I did it in New Mexico as a national law.
KUCINICH: You bet I'll go for a national law.
Q: So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Kucinich in favor of a national law.
EDWARDS: Wait, wait, wait, and Edwards.
Click for Bill Richardson on other issues.
Source: [Xref Edwards] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
John Edwards on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Supports national ban on smoking in public places
Q: Over 400,000 Americans have premature death due to smoking or secondhand smoke. Who would favor a national law to ban smoking in all public places?BIDEN: Yes. I would ban--in all public [places], nationally.
DODD: 3,000 kids start smoking every
day in this country.
RICHARDSON: I did it in New Mexico as a national law.
KUCINICH: You bet I'll go for a national law.
Q: So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Kucinich in favor of a national law.
EDWARDS: Wait, wait, wait, and Edwards.
Click for John Edwards on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth College
Bill Richardson on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Keep drinking age at 21; enforce but also rehab
Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..
RICHARDSON: No, I wouldn't lower it.
In fact, at this moment, my wife is hosting in New Mexico with the surgeon general a forum on underage drinking. I think what you need, though, is a dual approach. Yes, we need to have strong law enforcement against
DWI, against so many other law- related issues, but you also have to have substance abuse treatment.
GRAVEL: I think we should lower it. Anybody that can go fight and die for this country should be able to drink.
Click for Bill Richardson on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth College
Chris Dodd on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Supports national ban on smoking in public places
Q: Over 400,000 Americans have premature death due to smoking or secondhand smoke. Who would favor a national law to ban smoking in all public places?BIDEN: Yes. I would ban--in all public [places], nationally.
DODD: 3,000 kids start smoking every
day in this country.
RICHARDSON: I did it in New Mexico as a national law.
KUCINICH: You bet I'll go for a national law.
Q: So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Kucinich in favor of a national law.
EDWARDS: Wait, wait, wait, and Edwards.
Click for Chris Dodd on other issues.
Source: [Xref Edwards] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
Mike Gravel on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Lower drinking age from 21 to 18 so soldiers can drink
Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..
RICHARDSON:
No, I wouldn't lower it. I think you need a dual approach: strong law enforcement, but you also have to have substance abuse treatment.
GRAVEL: I think we should lower it. Anybody that can go fight and die for this country should be able to drink.
KUCINICH: Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.
Q: No on 18?
OBAMA: No.
EDWARDS: What was the question?
Q: Lower the drinking age to 18?
EDWARDS: I would not.
Click for Mike Gravel on other issues.
Source: [Xref Biden] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
Dennis Kucinich on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Supports national ban on smoking in public places
Q: Over 400,000 Americans have premature death due to smoking or secondhand smoke. Who would favor a national law to ban smoking in all public places?BIDEN: Yes. I would ban--in all public [places], nationally.
DODD: 3,000 kids start smoking every
day in this country.
RICHARDSON: I did it in New Mexico as a national law.
KUCINICH: You bet I'll go for a national law.
Q: So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Kucinich in favor of a national law.
EDWARDS: Wait, wait, wait, and Edwards.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: [Xref Edwards] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
John Edwards on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Do not lower drinking age from 21 to 18
Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..
RICHARDSON:
No, I wouldn't lower it. I think you need a dual approach: strong law enforcement, but you also have to have substance abuse treatment.
GRAVEL: I think we should lower it. Anybody that can go fight and die for this country should be able to drink.
KUCINICH: Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.
Q: No on 18?
OBAMA: No.
EDWARDS: What was the question?
Q: Lower the drinking age to 18?
EDWARDS: I would not.
Click for John Edwards on other issues.
Source: [Xref Biden] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
Mike Gravel on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Supports national ban on smoking in public places
Q: Over 400,000 Americans have premature death due to smoking or secondhand smoke. Who would favor a national law to ban smoking in all public places?BIDEN: Yes. I would ban--in all public [places], nationally.
DODD: 3,000 kids start smoking every
day in this country.
RICHARDSON: I did it in New Mexico as a national law.
KUCINICH: You bet I'll go for a national law.
Q: So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Kucinich in favor of a national law.
EDWARDS: Wait, wait, wait, and Edwards.
Click for Mike Gravel on other issues.
Source: [Xref Edwards] 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth
Dennis Kucinich on Drugs
: Sep 6, 2007
Lower drinking age from 21 to 18; and voting age to 16
Q: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in
America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..
KUCINICH: You know,
I think that not only about service, but we have to have confidence in young Americans. And a president who reaches out to them and talks to them about drinking responsibly is much better than a president who tells them, "Thou shalt not," because young
people will do what they do, but they're looking for leadership from a president. I'm ready to provide that leadership. Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate at Dartmouth College
Mike Gravel on Drugs
: Aug 9, 2007
Drug War failing now, like Prohibition failed in 1920s
Is there anybody that doesn't know the social failure of Prohibition in the 1920s that criminalized our society, that caused people to lose respect for the law? That's what we're doing all over again. It's been 25 years that we've been waging this war on
drugs, and it's an absolute failure.What's ravaging the inner cities? It is the drug war--not the drugs--the drug war & all of the [associated] activity. Where is the leadership to end this? FDR had the guts to end it back in 1933. I will end it now.
Click for Mike Gravel on other issues.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
Dennis Kucinich on Drugs
: Aug 9, 2007
Medical marijuana should be decided by doctors & patients
Many people with AIDS and HIV, and many people with cancer have benefited from the 11 states with legalized medicinal marijuana. But the federal government have come into California and have raided our medicinal marijuana shops.
So do you think we should have this law for the whole country?A: Four years ago, when there were raids in California, I, as a member of Congress, objected to that. And, of course, it's a matter between doctors and patients.
And if doctors want to prescribe medical marijuana to relieve pain, compassion requires that the government support that. And so, as president of the US, I would make sure that our Justice Department was mindful that we should be taking a compassionate
approach. I want to go one step further, because this whole issue of drugs in our society is misplaced. I mean, drugs have infected this society, but I think we need to look at it more as a medical and a health issue than as a criminal justice issue.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: 2007 HRC/LOGO debate on gay issues
Mike Gravel on Drugs
: Jun 28, 2007
Drugs are public health issue, not criminal issue
One of the areas that touches me the most and enrages me the most is our war on drugs that this country has been putting forth for the last generation. In 1972, we had 179,000 human beings in jail in this country; today, it's 2.3 million, and 70% are
African-Americans.And I hope my colleagues will join me in standing up and saying, like FDR did with Prohibition, "We'll do away with that." And FDR did it. And if I'm president, I will do away with the war on drugs, which does nothing but savage our
inner cities and put our children at risk.
There's no reason for this. There's not an American that doesn't understand the culture and the understanding that Prohibition was a failure, and so we repeat it again like we repeated Iraq after we had the
failure of Vietnam. When will we learn? When we learn that the issue of drugs is a public health issue. Addiction is a public health issue, not a criminal issue where we throw people in jail and criminalize them to no advancement to the people.
Click for Mike Gravel on other issues.
Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Mike Gravel on Drugs
: May 23, 2007
War on drugs loses an entire generation to our prisons
We are losing an entire generation of young men & women to our prisons. Our nation's ineffective & wasteful "war on drugs" plays a major role in this. We must place a greater emphasis on rehabilitation & prevention. We must de-criminalize minor drug
offenses & increase the availability & visibility of substance abuse treatment & prevention in our communities as well as in prisons.We must increase the use of special drug courts in which addicted offenders are given the opportunity to complete
court supervised substance abuse treatment instead of being sentenced to prison. Drug defendants convicted of nonviolent offenses should be given alternative penalties [instead of] mandatory prison sentences. We should emphasize the criminalization of
the importers, manufacturers, and major distributors, rather than just the street venders. Prisons in this country should be a legitimate criminal sanction -- but it should be an extension of a fair, just and wise society.
Click for Mike Gravel on other issues.
Source: Campaign website, www.gravel2008.us, "Issues"
Mike Gravel on Drugs
: Feb 26, 2007
Legalize the use and possession of marijuana
Senator Gravel advocates for the legalization of the use and possession of marijuana and ending the war on drugs and treating drugs as a medical problem rather than a criminal problem.
Click for Mike Gravel on other issues.
Source: Wikipedia.org article on Mike Gravel campaign
Ron Paul on Drugs
: Jan 22, 2007
Legalize industrial hemp
Paul believes in the legalization of industrial hemp. Paul supported HR 3037 to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana.
This bill would have given the states the power to regulate farming of hemp. The measure would be a first since the national prohibition of industrial hemp farming in the United States. He favors the legalization of marijuana.
Click for Ron Paul on other issues.
Source: SourceWatch.org
Barack Obama on Drugs
: Oct 1, 2006
Deal with street-level drug dealing as minimum-wage affair
We need to tackle the nexus of unemployment and crime in the inner city. The conventional wisdom is that most unemployed inner-city men could find jobs if they really wanted to work; that they inevitably prefer drug dealing, with its attendant risks but
potential profits, to the low-paying jobs that their lack of skill warrants. In fact, economists who've studied the issue--and the young men whose fates are at stake--will tell you that the costs and benefits of the street life don't match the popular
mythology: At the bottom or even the middle ranks of the industry, drug dealing is a minimum-wage affair. For many inner-city men, what prevents gainful employment is not simply the absence of motivation to get off the streets but the absence of a job
history or any marketable skills--and, increasingly, the stigma of a prison record. We can assume that with lawful work available for young men now in the drug trade, crime in any community would drop.
Click for Barack Obama on other issues.
Source: The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.257-259
John Edwards on Drugs
: Jan 1, 2004
Disparity in penalty for crack vs. powder is not justified
Improve Drug Sentencing: Today, a drug user with the same amount of cocaine is punished very differently depending on the type of cocaine - for crack cocaine the penalty is 100 times greater than for powder cocaine.
This disparity is not justified. Edwards will address this disparity while at the same time imposing harsher sentences on drug crimes involving weapons, violence, or other aggravating circumstances.
Click for John Edwards on other issues.
Source: Campaign website, JohnEdwards.com, "Real Solutions"
Dennis Kucinich on Drugs
: Nov 9, 2003
Hasn't smoked marijuana, but would decriminalize it
At the "Rock the Vote" debate, the moderator inevitably asked,. "Which of you are ready to admit to having used marijuana in the past?""Yes," said John Kerry, leading off. "Yes," said John Edwards . "Yes," said Howard Dean.
None of these three baby-boomer candidates said anything beyond their short, declarative affirmations. None followed with a hurried explanation that it was just a few times, that it was some kind of "youthful indiscretion," or that he didn't inhale.
The implication of their answers seemed to be, "Yeah, so what?"
In fact, the defensive answers tended to come from those replying in the negative. "No," said Dennis Kucinich. "But I think it ought to be decriminalized."
"I grew up in the church,"
said Al Sharpton. "We didn't believe in that."
"I have a reputation for giving unpopular answers," said Joe Lieberman. "I never used marijuana. Sorry!"
In the next day's news coverage, the admissions of marijuana smoking were largely ignored.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: [X-ref Kerry] Steven Holmes, NY Times
John Edwards on Drugs
: Nov 9, 2003
Admits having smoked marijuana
At the "Rock the Vote" debate, the moderator inevitably asked,. "Which of you are ready to admit to having used marijuana in the past?""Yes," said John Kerry, leading off. "Yes," said John Edwards . "Yes," said Howard Dean.
None of these three baby-boomer candidates said anything beyond their short, declarative affirmations. None followed with a hurried explanation that it was just a few times, that it was some kind of "youthful indiscretion," or that he didn't inhale.
The implication of their answers seemed to be, "Yeah, so what?"
In fact, the defensive answers tended to come from those replying in the negative. "No," said Dennis Kucinich. "But I think it ought to be decriminalized."
"I grew up in the church,"
said Al Sharpton. "We didn't believe in that."
"I have a reputation for giving unpopular answers," said Joe Lieberman. "I never used marijuana. Sorry!"
In the next day's news coverage, the admissions of marijuana smoking were largely ignored.
Click for John Edwards on other issues.
Source: [X-ref Kerry] Steven Holmes, NY Times
Dennis Kucinich on Drugs
: Aug 1, 2003
War on Drugs benefits only the prison-industrial complex
A safe, free and just America is undermined, not bolstered, by the costly and ineffective War on Drugs. Criminalization over treatment has led to increased violent crime, misdirected resources of law enforcement and restricted Constitutional liberties.
The US must rethink a policy that produces many casualties, but benefits only the prison-industrial complex.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues"
Dennis Kucinich on Drugs
: Aug 1, 2003
Addiction is a medical and moral problem
Addiction is a medical and moral problem that should be treated by professionals, not dumped on the criminal justice system. In our country, only one bed exists for every ten people who apply for drug treatment.
Click for Dennis Kucinich on other issues.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues"
Bill Richardson on Drugs
: Oct 24, 2002
No legalization: drugs play an insidious role in crime
My philosophy towards drug use is not legalization, but recognition of the dangerous, insidious role drugs play in crime in New Mexico. Effective, immediate and mandatory drug and alcohol treatment is one of the most effective tools to cut crime.
I am proposing a mandatory New Mexico Drug Court for first-time, non-violent offenders who are arrested for drug or alcohol related crimes.
Click for Bill Richardson on other issues.
Source: Campaign web site, RichardsonForGovernor.com, "Priorities"
Hillary Clinton on Drugs
: Oct 8, 2000
Address drug problem with treatment and special drug courts
Q: What is your approach to the “Drug War”?CLINTON: I have spoken out on my belief that we should have drug courts that would serve as alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system for low-level offenders. If the person comes before the
court, agrees to stay clean, is subjected to drug tests once a week, they are diverted from the criminal justice system. We need more treatment. It is unfair to urge people to get rid of their addiction and not have the treatment facilities when people
finally makes up their minds to get treatment.
LAZIO: The truth is that under the Clinton administration, there has been a dramatic and troubling increase in drug abuse by our children. And that has not been addressed. I crossed party lines in 1994
and built a coalition of Republicans that passed the crime bill. If it were not for that, we would not have drug courts right now. We would not have community policing. We need to have somebody in Washington who has the ability to get the job done.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: Senate debate in Manhattan
Al Gore on Drugs
: Mar 5, 2000
Loosen restrictions on medical marijuana
Breaking slightly with Clinton administration policy, Gore said he supports giving doctors greater flexibility to presribe marijuana to relieve patients’ pain.
Otherwise, Gore closely adheres to the framework of current policy [which includes increasing Drug War spending to $18.9 billion this year].
Click for Al Gore on other issues.
Source: Boston Globe, p. A21
John McCain on Drugs
: Mar 5, 2000
Administration is AWOL on the war on drugs
Of the four major candidates, McCain has expressed the most hawkish positions on drug policy. He wants to increas penalties for selling drugs, supports the death penalty for drug kingpins, favors tightening security to stop the flow of drugs into the
country, and wants to restrict availability of methadone for heroin addicts. He said the Clinton administration was “AWOL on the war on drugs” and he would push for more money and military assistance to drug-supplying nations such as Colombia.
Click for John McCain on other issues.
Source: Boston Globe, p. A21
John McCain on Drugs
: Oct 29, 1999
Prevention & education apply to alcohol as well as marijuana
Q: How do you reconcile the tolerance for alcohol with the intolerance for marijuana?
A: I can’t support the legalization of marijuana. Scientific evidence indicates that the moment that it enters your body, one, it does damage, and second,
it can become addictive. It is a gateway drug. There is a problem in American with alcohol abuse, and there’s no doubt about that. We have to do whatever we can to - prevention, education, and that applies to drugs too.
Click for John McCain on other issues.
Source: Republican Debate at Dartmouth College
John McCain on Drugs
: Oct 29, 1999
We’re losing drug war - just say no
We’re losing the war on drugs. We ought to say, “It’s not a war anymore,” or we really ought to go after it. And there was a time in our history when we weren’t always losing the war on drugs.
It was when Nancy Reagan had a very simple program called “Just Say No.” And young Americans were reducing the usage of drugs in America.
Click for John McCain on other issues.
Source: Republican Debate at Dartmouth College
Rudy Giuliani on Drugs
: Sep 29, 1997
Drug policy should be an integral part of foreign policy
We need to call on the on the federal government after having done our job effectively [on crime reduction] to make [drug reduction] an important part of our foreign policy, rather than a secondary part. After all it has to do with the future of
our children and it is just important as international trade. And it’s just a important as wars that may be going on in different parts of the world, because it has to do with how productive America is going to be into the next generation.
Click for Rudy Giuliani on other issues.
Source: Speech at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government
Mike Huckabee on Drugs
: Nov 1, 1992
Curb supply by eradication; change attitudes to curb demand
In order to curb the flow of illegal drugs, we must work to [eradicate] the supply and at the same time diminish the demand by changing the public's attitude toward drugs.
Click for Mike Huckabee on other issues.
Source: Responses to Associated Press Questionnaire for AR Senate