Hillary Clinton's campaign has criticized the DEA's decision to keep marijuana in Schedule I:
“Marijuana is already being used for medical purposes in states across the country, and it has the potential for even further medical use,” senior policy adviser Maya Harris states. "As Hillary Clinton has said throughout this campaign, we should make it easier to study marijuana so that we can better understand its potential benefits, as well as its side effects. As president, Hillary will build on the important steps announced today by rescheduling marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule II substance. She will also ensure Colorado, and other states that have enacted marijuana laws, can continue to serve as laboratories of democracy."
This is slight change of tune from what Clinton said on Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 24:
'I think what the states are doing right now needs to be supported. I absolutely support all the states that are moving towards medical marijuana and moving towards absolutely legalizing it for recreational use. But I want to see what the states learn from that experience, because there still are a lot of questions that we have to answer at the federal level. What I've said is, let's take it off Schedule I and put it on a lower schedule so we can actually do research about it. There's some great evidence about what marijuana can do for people who are in cancer treatment, who have other kinds of chronic diseases, who are suffering from intense pain. There's great, great anecdotal evidence, but I want us to start doing the research. Suppose you're taking two or three prescription drugs. You don't know what dosage you should be mixing with everything, so let's find out, and then let's make that available, and let's do more and support it.'
Clinton had previously advocated shifting marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II. Most marijuana advocates would prefer it to be removed entirely from the Controlled Sustances Act, which classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug ("no accepted medical use"), just like heroin.
