[Sativa]

Federal raids of medical marijuana users will end under a Dennis Kucinich administration, implied the Democratic Presidential candidate in last night's LGBT Presidential forum. Competing candidate Mike Gravel went further by saying marijuana should be sold alongside alcohol in liquor stores and that all hard drugs should be decriminalized.

The answer was prompted by a question from cancer sufferer Melissa Etheridge -- who noted that federal raids still take place in the 11 states have legalized medical marijuana -- as medical marijuana can be used to ease pain by many people in the LGBT community who have "AIDS and HIV, and then many people in general with cancer."

Every Democratic candidate has taken a similar position, with Barack Obama being the only one who has yet to explicitly state he will end federal raids in states where medical marijuana is legal, according to Granite Staters. Obama did, however, vote against an amendment offered to undermine state medical marijuana laws.

Tommy Thompson and Ron Paul are the only Republican candidates who agree with this stance -- the majority saying they will not stop the federal raids, as other pain management options need to be researched and explored.

Update: Republican Tom Tancredo has taken a position similar to Barack Obama's, according to Granite Staters. He has voted against legislation that would undermine state medical marijuana programs, but has yet to state explicitly that he would end federal raids.



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Source: Wired Science
Author: Steven Edwards
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