2019-2021 Town Halls: on Drugs


Andrew Yang: Jail for dealers; treatment for addicts

If they're a dealer; if they're profiting, they go straight to jail. But if they are struggling with addiction, they should not be heading to jail. They should be heading to counseling and treatment. And we should have safe injection sites so that, if someone actually is trying to recover, they have some place they can go.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: Presidential/NYC Mayoral race Feb 5, 2020

Amy Klobuchar: Use drug courts; diversity in law enforcement

Q: Convictions for non-violent drug crimes impact minorities.

A: I have been a big believer in drug courts at the state and federal levels. I've led that effort on the federal level. The second thing is I think that our offices, both police offices, county attorney's offices need to reflect the population we serve. And I worked very hard to bring people of color into our office and we were a lot better for it. The other thing is the way we handle cases when they come in. The other thing we need to do is not just pass the first step back and I was proud to be a co-sponsor of that legislation. But we have to create incentives to bring those sentences down as well on the state and local level.

Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back Apr 22, 2019

Elizabeth Warren: Change to pro-legalization of marijuana

It makes no darn sense that we treat marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, which means in effect the federal government has determined that it has no medicinal use, that it can't have any good effects, no research is supposed to be done. [Then there's the] racial impact of the enforcement of marijuana laws. The best evidence suggests that African-Americans and whites use marijuana at about the same rates, and yet African-Americans are far more likely to be arrested for marijuana use than whites are.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back Apr 22, 2019

  • The above quotations are from 2020 Presidential Primary CNN Town Halls.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Drugs.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Bernie Sanders on Drugs.
  • Click here for more quotes by Pete Buttigieg on Drugs.
2020 Presidential contenders on Drugs:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Apr 07, 2021