11 December 2016
The Cannabist reports…
Kelly is, however, critical of marijuana legalization. He calls the plant a “gateway” to harder drugs (this notion is disputed by many drug abuse researchers and the National Institute on Drug Abuse). He does support the use of medical marijuana, however: “I’m not a doctor,” he told the Military Times, “but I’m told it has a medical use. So whether it’s veterans or anyone else, if it helps those people, then fine. Medicine is medicine.”
Kelly’s nomination would be the third Trump cabinet pick who’s an outspoken critic of marijuana legalization. Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions has been harshly critical of legalization efforts, arguing that “good people don’t smoke marijuana.” Georgia Rep. Tom Price, Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has been one of the most reliably anti-marijuana members of Congress in recent years, voting against even modest reform bills.
As DHS secretary, Kelly wouldn’t have as direct an impact on federal drug policy as the attorney general or the Health and Human Services secretary. But if confirmed, he would be one more cabinet-level skeptic of marijuana legalization in an era of increasing marijuana legalization at the state level.
Full article at http://www.thecannabist.co/2016/12/08/john-kelly-trump-dhs-pick/68963/
