• McCain opposes the legalization of marijuana.

• He opposes the use of marijuana for medical purposes
and supports the continuation of federal raids on medical
marijuana patients.
When asked in April 2007 if he would end the federal raids on
medical marijuana patients he answered, "I will let states
decide that issue."

• He believes that marijuana is a 'gateway drug' and
leads to use of harder, more harmful drugs.

• Concerning medical marijuana McCain stated in
September of 2007, "Every medical expert I know of, including
the AMA (American Medical Association), says that there are
much more effective and much better treatments for pain than
medical marijuana...I still would not support medical
marijuana because I don't think that the preponderance of
medical opinion in America agrees with [the] assertion that
it's the most effective way of treating pain."

• McCain strongly supports prison expansion initiatives
to cope with the rising number of convicted criminals,
including drug related crimes.

• He strongly supports fighting the war on drugs
internationally and would advocate more money and military
assistance to drug-supplying nations such as Colombia to stop
the flow of drugs into the US.  He recently commended Mexican
president Felipe Calderon for his cooperation with America in
drug prosecutions. "He's a good man, for the first time in
history he extradited drug dealers to the U.S."

• McCain supports the death penalty for drug kingpins.
		

• Obama has publicly admitted to using illegal drugs in
the past. "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the
final, fatal role of the young would-be black man," He wrote
in his 1995 book, 'Dreams of my Father.'

• He believes that if the best way to relieve pain and
suffering is through use of medicinal marijuana then it's
something 'he's open to'.

• Obama pledged to end medical marijuana raids in the
12 states that allow medical marijuana use.

• He has stated that there is no difference between
medical marijuana and morphine when it comes to just giving
people relief from pain.

• Concerning medical marijuana Obama stated in March
2008, "When it comes to medical marijuana, I have more of a
practical view than anything else. My attitude is that if it's
an issue of doctors prescribing medical marijuana as a
treatment for glaucoma or as a cancer treatment, I think that
should be appropriate because there really is no difference
between that and a doctor prescribing morphine or anything
else. I think there are legitimate concerns in not wanting to
allow people to grow their own or start setting up mom and pop
shops because at that point it becomes fairly difficult to
regulate. 
I'm not familiar with all the details of the initiative that
was passed (Oregon Medical Marijuana Act) and what safeguards
there were in place, but I think the basic concept that using
medical marijuana in the same way, with the same controls as
other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely
appropriate. 

• I would not punish doctors if it's prescribed in a
way that is appropriate. That may require some changes in
federal law. I will tell you that...the likelihood of that
being real high on my list is not likely. What I'm not going
to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to
circumvent state laws on this issue simply because I want
folks to be investigating violent crimes and potential
terrorism. We've got a lot of things for our law enforcement
officers to deal with."

• Obama believes the disparity between sentencing crack
and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely
eliminated. 

• He would give first-time, non-violent offenders a
chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type
of drug rehabilitation programs designed in changing bad
behavior.