Hillary Clinton is now on a similar page as her 2016 Democratic rivals in regard to marijuana laws. | Getty Hillary Clinton calls for marijuana to be reclassified

Hillary Clinton on Saturday called for marijuana to be reclassified from a Schedule I drug to Schedule II, citing medical research.

“I do support the use of medical marijuana,” Clinton said to a predominantly African-American audience at a town hall meeting at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. “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.


“I want to move from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 so researchers can research what’s the best way to use it, dosage, how does it work with other medications," she added.

The 2016 Democratic front-runner declined to offer a position on marijuana during CNN’s Democratic presidential debate in October.

Bernie Sanders, her closest opponent in the polls, said at the debate that he would support state legalization of marijuana. The comments were a prelude to his announcement later in October calling for the federal government to take marijuana off its schedule entirely.

Democratic hopeful Martin O’Malley has also called for the drug’s reclassification.

Rescheduling marijuana would allow researchers to investigate the drug’s medicinal properties without seeking clearance from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Annie Karni contributed to this report.