• McCain opposes the legalization of marijuana.

• He opposes the use of marijuana for medical purposes and supports the
continuation of federal raids on medical marijuana patients.
When asked in April 2007 if he would end the federal raids on medical marijuana
patients he answered, "I will let states decide that issue."

• He believes that marijuana is a 'gateway drug' and leads to use of harder,
more harmful drugs.

• Concerning medical marijuana McCain stated in September of 2007, "Every
medical expert I know of, including the AMA (American Medical Association),
says that there are much more effective and much better treatments for pain
than medical marijuana...I still would not support medical marijuana because I
don't think that the preponderance of medical opinion in America agrees with
[the] assertion that it's the most effective way of treating pain."

• McCain strongly supports prison expansion initiatives to cope with the rising
number of convicted criminals, including drug related crimes.

• He strongly supports fighting the war on drugs internationally and would
advocate more money and military assistance to drug-supplying nations such as
Colombia to stop the flow of drugs into the US.  He recently commended Mexican
president Felipe Calderon for his cooperation with America in drug
prosecutions. "He's a good man, for the first time in history he extradited
drug dealers to the U.S."

• McCain supports the death penalty for drug kingpins.