US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: There is no value in imprisoning people for cannabis use

U.S. surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Sunday he doesn’t think incarcerating people for marijuana use makes sense and that science should be our guide in policymaking.

“When it comes to decriminalization, I don’t think there is any value to individuals or society in locking people up for marijuana use. I don’t think that’s anybody good, ”Murthy told presenter Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union.

Photo by Caspar Benson / Getty Images

Dash asked Murthy if, from a health standpoint, he supported the bill tabled last week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to legalize cannabis at the federal level. Murthy responded that when discussing marijuana, science should be paramount.

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“I think if we don’t let science guide our policy-making process,” Murthy said, I’ll be concerned about how we use marijuana.

“And we know that science is telling us that from a medical point of view, marijuana has some advantages, but also some disadvantages that we need to consider – and we have to sum them up when we think about the right policies.”

Murthy, the 19th and 21st surgeon general who also served under President Obama, said he was concerned about efforts to change cannabis laws that are ahead of science.

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“And as a surgeon general, my job is to work with policymakers who work with members of the community and the public to help people understand what science is telling us and where there are gaps to fill those gaps with research and fill in honest inquiries. “” he said.

US @Surgeon_General Vivek Murthy: There is “no value” in incarcerating people for cannabis use pic.twitter.com/d6Vapqhh0B

– Javier Hasse (@JavierHasse) July 19, 2021

In 2015, during his first tenure as Obama’s Surgeon General, Murthy seemed open to the possibility that cannabis could be beneficial as a treatment for various ailments. Murthy said in a television interview at the time that “preliminary data shows that marijuana can help with certain conditions and symptoms,” and that such information is likely to drive marijuana use legislation.

President Biden?

Shortly after the launch of the marijuana legalization bill last Wednesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki reiterated that President Joe Biden was still opposed to the reform, despite adding that the president was pushing for incremental reforms such as decriminalizing the Possession by pledging to do so during the election campaign.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.