George Bush's stance on the legalization of marijuana

Issue: To date, 10 states within the United States have passed legislation allowing for marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes.

George Bush:

Description of candidates' position: President Bush is firmly against allowing medical marijuana to become legal. In December of 2001 he signed a bill that allowed for $100 million in funding for anti-drug coalitions and faith-based organizations to help with the war on drugs. The President also believes that money used to buy drugs, such as marijuana, supports terrorists. Link to White House's website.

Quotation from the candidate: "Drug use threatens everything, everything that is best about our country. It breaks the bonds between parents and children. It turns productive citizens into addicts. It transforms schools into places of violence and chaos. It makes playgrounds into crime scenes. It supports gangs here at home. And abroad, it's so important for Americans to know that the traffic in drugs finances the work of terror, sustaining terrorists that terrorists use drug profits to fund their cells to commit acts of murder." December 14, 2001 from the White House website.

Assessment of the proposal:

Positive: "The President's strategy commits us to disrupting the market for illegal drugs. By attacking the economic basis of the drug trade, we plan to create a recession, and then a depression, in the business of illegal drugs… your aggressive plans for leadership through the OCDETF [Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force] program and your commitment to target the top-levels of trafficking organizations are an important step." March 19, 2002, John Walters, Director of White House Drug Control Policy.

Negative: According to NORML (National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws), President Bush originally stated that in his 2000 election that he would let medical marijuana be a state issue. Also, according to NORML, the President has kept "approximately 50,000 citizens" from receiving "federal student aid annually" because of a past marijuana conviction.

Comparison: Senator John Kerry has mixed feelings about medical marijuana. He has reportedly withheld full-fledge support for medical marijuana, but unlike President Bush, does not believe persons using or selling marijuana within states where it is legal for medicinal purposes should be prosecuted.

Link to Kerry's issue brief