Hillary Clinton at her town hall on June 17, 2014 (CNN)

Hillary Clinton on pot: “I want to wait and see what the evidence is”

We know what President Barack Obama thinks about marijuana, but what about the Democrat many think will follow Obama in the White House?

Hillary Clinton answered questions at a town hall on June 17, and one of them brought out the giggles in the crowded room at the Newseum in Washington D.C.: “What are your outlooks on recreational and medical marijuana, and how does it make you feel that states are now legalizing pot for both uses?”


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After the obligatory “young-people” joke, Clinton gave her answer regarding medical marijuana:

“At the risk of committing radical candor, I have to say I think we need to be very clear about the benefits of marijuana use for medicinal purposes,” Clinton began. “I don’t think we’ve done enough research yet, although I think for people who are in extreme medical conditions and have anecdotal evidence that it works there should be availability, under appropriate circumstances.

“But I do think we need more research because we don’t know how it interacts with other drugs. There’s a lot we don’t know.”


Map: An interactive look at marijuana laws across the U.S.


On the recreational front, Clinton took more of a wait-and-see position.

“States are the laboratories of democracy,” Clinton said, echoing the familiar sentiment. “We have at least two states that are experimenting with that right now. I want to wait and see what the evidence is.”

After Clinton was finished with the question, CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joked with her about finally trying marijuana, which elicited this from the politician:

“I didn’t do it while I was young,” Clinton said. “I’m not going to start now.”


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