Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's top priorities in the United States Senate include creating more well-paying jobs to rebuild the middle class, increasing access to good, affordable healthcare and improving educational opportunities from pre-k to college or vocational training.
Throughout her time in the Senate, Senator Gillibrand has been a leader in some of the toughest fights in Washington. She led the effort to repeal the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy that banned gay people from serving openly in the military; she wrote the STOCK Act, which made it illegal for members of Congress to trade stocks on insider information; and she won the long fight to provide permanent health care and compensation to the 9/11 first responders and community survivors who are sick with diseases caused by the toxins at Ground Zero.
Medical marijuana is legal in 28 states and the District of Columbia, where lawmakers recognize medical research showing cannabis can alleviate symptoms of serious conditions, including epileptic and seizure disorders in children, cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. Sixteen more states have laws regulating cannabidiol.
However, medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law, leaving patients and providers vulnerable to arrest—even if they are in compliance with their state laws. As a currently classified Schedule I drug, federal law restricts medical marijuana research, as well as fair and safe financial services for medical marijuana-related businesses. Senator Gillibrand, along with Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rand Paul (R-KY), have introduced a bipartisan bill—the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act—to recognize that marijuana has accepted medical use, and that it is the states’ responsibility to set medical marijuana policy.