Photo by Gage Skidmore

Below are the comments that President Donald Trump made when he was asked about marijuana policy during his presidential campaign. It should be noted that he never brought the issue up proactively.

February 12, 2016 – Fox News Channel

During an appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor," Bill O’Reilly said legalized marijuana is a $1 billion industry in Colorado and claimed all the “dealers” and “pushers” are going there to “load up on it” and then “zoom around the country selling it.” He then asked Trump if it concerns him, to which Trump responded: “That’s a real problem.”

O’Reilly asked Trump what he would do about it, and Trump responded: “There is another problem. In Colorado, the book isn’t written on it yet, but there is a lot of difficulty in terms of illness and what’s going on with the brain and the mind and what it’s doing. So, you know, it’s coming out probably over the next year or so. It’s going to come out.”

O’Reilly continued to ask what Trump would do about it, and Trump responded: “I would really want to think about that one, Bill. Because in some ways I think it’s good and in other ways it’s bad. I do want to see what the medical effects are. I have to see what the medical effects are and, by the way — medical marijuana, medical? I’m in favor of it a hundred percent. But what you are talking about, perhaps not. It’s causing a lot of problems out there.”

O’Reilly then called medical marijuana a “ruse,” to which Trump responded: “But I know people that have serious problems and they did that they really — it really does help them.”

October 29, 2015 – The Washington Post

While answering questions during a campaign rally in Nevada, Trump said: “In terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state. … Marijuana is such a big thing. I think medical should happen — right? Don’t we agree? I think so. And then I really believe we should leave it up to the states. ... And of course you have Colorado. And I love Colorado and the people are great, but there's a question as to how it's all working out there, you know? That's not going exactly trouble-free. So I really think that we should study Colorado, see what's happening."

June 23, 2015 – C-SPAN

During the Conservative Political Action Conference, Sean Hannity asked whether Colorado's decision to regulate marijuana for adult use was a "good or bad experiment," to which Trump responded: “I’d say it's bad. Medical marijuana is another thing, but I think it’s bad and I feel strongly about that." 

Hannity then asked about the "states’ right aspect of it, to which Trump responded: "If they vote for it, they vote for it. But, you know, they have got a lot of problems going on right now in Colorado. Some big problems. But I think, medical marijuana, 100%.”