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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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US: Campaign Watch -- Kucinich Says Legalize It
DRCNet.org Stopthedrugwar.org
Friday 19 Dec 2003 Campaign Watch -- Kucinich Says Legalize It http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/316/kucinich.shtml For the first time since the days of Jimmy Carter, a prominent presidential candidate has called for an end to marijuana prohibition. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), a progressive and therefore long-shot candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, quietly announced on his campaign web site last week that, if elected, he would end federal prohibitions on the use of marijuana by adults and would instead move to regulate it like alcohol. "Statistical evidence shows that marijuana use follows a pattern very similar to that of alcohol," wrote Kucinich. "Most marijuana users do so responsibly, in a safe, recreational context. These people lead normal, productive lives -- pursuing careers, raising families and participating in civic life... A Kucinich administration would reject the current paradigm of 'all use is abuse' in favor of a drug policy that sets reasonable boundaries for marijuana use by establishing guidelines similar to those already in place for alcohol... A Kucinich administration would work to implement a drug policy that removes responsible recreational users and medical users of marijuana from the criminal justice system, in order to redirect resources toward the following goals: * Enforce penalties for those who provide marijuana to minors. * Enforce penalties for those who endanger the rights of others through irresponsible use, such as driving under the influence. * Develop drug treatment programs focused on rehabilitation, rather than incarceration. * Support the efforts of state governments in developing innovative approaches to drug policy. * Improve drug education by emphasizing science over scare tactics. * Implement a Department of Justice program that would review the records of, and consider for sentence reduction or release, inmates convicted for nonviolent marijuana offenses. Visit http://www.kucinich.us/issues/marijuana_decrim.php to read the full text of Kucinich's marijuana plank online. Visit http://www.kucinich.us/issues/drugwar.php to read Kucinich's overall drug policy reform stances.
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