Mental health and drug use may not be the first issues you think of when considering who to vote for in the primaries or this fall. But the failure of the war on drugs and the best ways to respond to addiction, are important issues for many of the 2016 presidential hopefuls, so it's good to know what they've said on the topic.During a Democratic primary debate in January, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke candidly about America's heroin epidemic. The national response to issues of addiction became a prime focus of the debate, and the candidates shared their plans for addressing the United States' drug problem. Both candidates argued that heroin addiction should be treated first and foremost as a mental illness, rather than as a crime. At GOP primary debates, the Republican candidates have spoken about drugs as well.
Addiction and mental health — in particular, a growing national opioid epidemic— were major issues for voters ahead of the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary, and remain big ones in this year's presidential election. Candidates on both sides of the aisle have spoken out in favor of treating people with addictions with compassion rather than treating them like criminals. As New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stated in October, "it can happen to anyone"— and we need to give people who struggle with addictions the respect and support they deserve.
We've rounded up some of the most memorable statements the 2016 candidates from both major parties have made on the campaign trail so far.
Hillary Clinton (D)
On Addiction
"The policing needs to change," Hillary Clinton said at the Democratic primary debate on Jan. 17. She proposed a public-health approach to America's heroin epidemic, which would include roughly $1 billion each year budgeted to allow states to treat addictions. Clinton proposed that police officers be equipped with antidotes for heroin overdoses so that they could administer them while on the job, if necessary.
On Marijuana
In November, Clinton called on the federal government to ease its restrictions on marijuana research. During a town-hall meeting, Clinton said that she wants the government to do more research on medical marijuana and to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule 2 drug, rather than a Schedule 1 drug.
"I do support the use of medical marijuana," Clinton said during the first Democratic presidential debate last month. “And I think even there, we need to do a lot more research so that we know exactly how we're going to help people for whom medical marijuana provides relief."
Donald Trump (R)
On Addiction
Businessman Donald Trump suggested in January that building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border would help stop the epidemic, because heroin is "pouring across" the border and into the United States. His speech, though, focused on stopping addiction before it begins — by building the wall.
"It comes through the border," Trump said at an Iowa rally last month. "We're going to build a wall, number one, and it's going to be a real wall." Trump's wall would do nothing, however, to reduce the number of people dependent on prescription painkillers.
As far as addiction itself, Trump referred to it as "a very tough thing" during a January speech at Farmington High School in Farmington, NH.
On Marijuana
At a political rally in October, Trump said that marijuana legalization should be left up to individual states to decide. Trump made an exception for medical marijuana, however, saying it should be available to qualified patients.
Bernie Sanders (D)
On Addiction
The discussion of drug addiction was a rare point of agreement for Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders during January's Democratic primary debate. Sanders agreed with Clinton about treating addiction as a mental illness rather than as a crime, and he added that pharmaceutical companies should be held responsible for the effects of the drugs they produce, including drug overdoses.
On Marijuana
In an October appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Sanders joked that the federal deficit could be lowered through a marijuana-delivery service. Sanders' conversation with Kimmel wasn't all jokes, though — he suggested that he'd be in favor of legalizing marijuana, noting that many Americans have criminal records because of marijuana usage, which he doesn't believe is right. "We have large numbers of lives that have been destroyed because of this war on drugs, and because people were caught smoking marijuana, and so forth," Sanders told Kimmel. "I am not unfavorably disposed to moving toward the legalization of marijuana."
During a town-hall meeting at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia, the following week, Sanders announced his support for removing marijuana from the federal government's list of the most dangerous drugs.
Chris Christie (R)
On Addiction
In an October video for The Huffington Post, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivered an emotional speech about how Americans respond to drug addictions. "Somehow, if it's heroin or cocaine or alcohol, we say, 'They decided...they're getting what they deserved,'" Christie said in the video. He explained that, conversely, people didn't say the same thing when his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer after years of smoking.
"It can happen to anyone," Christie said. "And so we need to start treating people in this country, not jailing them... We have to stop judging and start giving them the tools they need to get better."
On Marijuana
During the second Republican debate, Christie said that he is "not against medical marijuana," though he is "against the recreational use of marijuana." Christie also supported medical-marijuana laws (with limits) while campaigning for governor.
Jeb Bush (R)
On Addiction
At the GOP primary debate in September, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush acknowledged that "we have a serious epidemic of drugs that goes way beyond marijuana."
"If you look at the problem of drugs in our society today, it's a serious problem,"Bush said at the debate. "It is appropriate for the government to play a consistent role to be able to provide more treatment, more prevention."
Bush's daughter Noelle famously struggled with substance abuse, which the candidate has spoken about publicly.
On Marijuana
Although he admitted to smoking marijuana in his younger days during September's debate, Bush hasn't come out in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana use. In February 2015, Bush said that states should have the right to decide whether to legalize marijuana.
Ted Cruz (R)
On Addiction
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has a personal connection to the tragedies caused by drug addictions. In Cruz's book A Time for Truth, he detailed the death of his sister Miriam, who had addictions to alcohol and drugs and passed away at age 49.
"It was heartbreaking," Cruz wrote. "I loved my sister, and she spent much of her life trapped by the demons of addiction and anger."
Cruz's experience doesn't seem to have affected his opinion of drug laws in the United States, though. In January, Cruz supported Trump's idea that the solution to drug addictions lies in securing the U.S.-Mexico border.
"One of the most important elements of dealing with the drug crisis is securing our border,"Cruz said at a campaign event in New Hampshire. "In Texas, we've got 1,200 miles of border. The drug cartels come across that border trafficking human beings and illegal immigration, but also trafficking drugs."
On Marijuana
In February 2015, Cruz said that individual states should have the right to decide whether to legalize marijuana. The senator clarified, though, that he personally does not support marijuana legalization.
"If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that's their prerogative,"Cruz said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). "I personally don't agree with it, but that's their right."
Marco Rubio (R)
On Addiction
In an October 2014 op-ed in The Washington Times, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio suggested that he was hesitant to lower minimum sentences for drug-related crimes. "Reform should not begin with careless weakening of drug laws that have done so much to help end the violence and mayhem that plagued American cities in prior decades," Rubio wrote.
On Marijuana
In an April 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt, Rubio said that he doesn't support legalizing marijuana, though he sidestepped a question about whether the decision should be left to individual states. "I don't believe we should be in the business of legalizing additional intoxicants in this country for the primary reason that when you legalize something, what you're sending a message to young people is, 'It can't be that bad, because if it was that bad it wouldn't be legal,'"Rubio told Hewitt.
Ben Carson (R)
On Addiction
In November, Carson told John Dickerson on CBS News' Face the Nation that the United States needs to continue its war on drugs. "There are all kinds of addictions, and usually, addictions occur in people who are vulnerable, who are lacking something in their lives," Carson told Dickerson. He suggested that America has lost some of its "values and principles," leading some people to develop addictions. In October, Carson also told Glenn Beck on The Blaze that he would "intensify" the war on drugs.
On Marijuana
While Carson has said that he supports the use of medical marijuana in "compassionate cases," he told Glenn Beck in October that he "disagrees" with the idea of legalizing marijuana. At a campaign event in Colorado in June, Carson said that "regular exposure to marijuana in the developing brain has been demonstrated definitively to result in a decreased IQ. And the last thing we need is a bunch of people running around with decreased IQ."
John Kasich (R)
On Drug Use
While watching an MSNBC livestream of John Kasich's speech in Nashua, NH, on Dec. 29, Jason Hart, an Ohio-based reporter at Watchdog.org, transcribed this Kasich quote. The New Republic later picked up Hart's coverage, mocking Kasich's seeming lack of knowledge about drug use.
On Marijuana
As far as marijuana is concerned, meanwhile, Kasich called recreational marijuana a "terrible idea" during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in November. Kasich also spoke out about an Ohio ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in November, saying at a meet and greet, "I hope it loses." (Kasich got his wish — Ohio voters rejected the measure.)
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