• 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.