Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Thursday said she supports state experimentation with marijuana regulations, but she argued that more research needs to be conducted before decriminalizing the drug on a federal level.
“What the states are doing right now needs to be supported,” Mrs. Clinton said on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” “And I absolutely support all the states that are moving toward medical marijuana, moving toward absolutely legalizing it for recreational use. But I want to see what the states learn from that experience, because there are still a lot of questions we still have to answer on the federal level.”
“There’s some great evidence about what marijuana can do for people who are in cancer treatment, who have other kinds of chronic diseases, who are suffering from intense pain,” the former secretary of state said, adding that she would remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I controlled substances.
“There’s great, great anecdotal evidence, but I want us to start doing the research,” she said.
Mr. Kimmel joked that his sidekick, Guillermo, is “working on a research project right now.”
“Well, I want to hear from him,” Mrs. Clinton responded. “I’m accepting information from everybody.”
Mrs. Clinton’s primary challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has come out in favor of federally decriminalizing marijuana.
He has consistently bested Mrs. Clinton among youth voters in the Democratic primaries.
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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