Who?
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)
LISTEN: Laslo & AOC
Ask a Pol asks:
What do you make of the Trump administration relaxing prohibitions around only “medicinal marijuana” — making it Schedule III — but doing nothing for incarcerees or “recreational” cannabis?
Key AOC:
“This has always been an issue kind of at the heart of our decriminalization, that many of the people who profited from the “war on drugs” will then double down on that profit from legalization,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells Ask a Pol Politics’ founder Matt Laslo.
“And then the folks who were criminalized and had their lives destroyed by the “war on drugs” never get to see justice or have that made right. So, I think that is a fundamental difference that we have here in the approach to that.”
Caught our ear:
“Of course, I will always welcome a descheduling of marijuana from Schedule I,” Ocasio-Cortez tells Laslo. “I will be supportive of that, because it reduces that harm but it doesn’t quite make all of the wrongs right.”
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TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (4-29-2026)
SCENE: On the steps of the US Capitol, Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo asks Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about President Donald Trump’s move to reschedule “medicinal marijuana.”
Matt Laslo: “What do you make of the [Trump] administration relaxing medicinal marijuana, making it Schedule III or whatever, but doing nothing for incarcerees or recreational?”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Well, you know, I think this is — this has always been an issue kind of at the heart of our decriminalization, is that many of the people who profited from the “war on drugs” will then profit also — double down on that profit from legalization.
ICYMI — Ask a Pol founder Matt Laslo sold this interview to Marijuana Moment via his regionally-focused national wire service, The LCB
“And then the folks who were criminalized and had their lives destroyed by the “war on drugs” never get to see justice or have that made right. So, I think that is a fundamental difference that we have here in the approach to that.
“Of course, I will always welcome a descheduling of marijuana from Schedule I. I will be supportive of that, because it it it reduces that harm but it doesn’t quite make all of the wrongs right.”
Ask a Pol AI Disclosure:
Ask a Pol’s playing around with as many new AI tools as we can, so this small, unfunded startup can compete in today’s new media landscape.
