Obama Won’t Support Medical Marijuana For Now

US President Barack Obama doesn’t support medical marijuana — for now. The White House made the announcement on Wednesday after being asked if Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s recent comments were enough to change the president’s stance on the issue.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest was asked about the subject for the second day in a row. While he declined to answer on Tuesday, he was better prepared on Wednesday.

Earnest commented that the president doesn’t believe any changes to medical marijuana laws should be changed, reports Yahoo! News.

The federal government currently lists marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug along side LSD, heroin, ecstasy, methaqualone, and peyote. The classification means that the drug has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

The DEA adds of the designation, “Schedule 1 drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.”

The Washington Post notes that the comments regarding Obama and medical marijuana come after Dr. Sanjay Gupta came out in favor of medical marijuana.

Gupta initially opposed the drug, but stated recently that his opinion on the subject has changed. Several states have also taken steps to legalize medical marijuana, while two have legalized it for recreational use as well.

However, Earnest commented that President Obama’s opinion hasn’t changed — for now at least. The White House spokesman explained that “the president does not, you know, at this point advocate a change in the law.”

But he does believe that the administration should target individuals in the states that have moved to legalize the substance. Instead, he commented that law enforcement is keeping the focus and resources on “drug kingpins, drug traffickers and others who perpetrate violence in the conduct of the drug trade.”

Do you think President Obama should reverse his position on medical marijuana?

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