Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position.
(Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party; black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria.)
Chuck Baldwin, Founder and Minister of the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL, issued the following statement through his Communications Director, Mary Starrett, in an Aug. 11, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
John McCain, US Senator (R-AZ), stated in a Nov. 17, 2007 article titled "McCain Calls For Drug Reimportation" in The Associated Press:
"It's a strawman to say that a country like Canada could not be responsible for safe drugs to be brought into our country. Many of them are manufactured in Canada, as you know.
I would reimport them from any country in the world as long as you have the proper process. In Canada, we already do. In Mexico, we do not."
Cynthia McKinney, former US House Representative (D-GA), issued the following statement through her Press Secretary, John Judge, in a Nov. 1, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
Barack Obama, US Senator (D-IL), in an article titled "Seniors: Prescription Drugs" on his official candidate website (accessed June 4, 2008), stated:
"A truly meaningful prescription drug program should provide a benefit that seniors can understand and count on, and reduce the cost of these drugs. To help lower the cost of prescription drugs, Senator Obama has supported efforts to allow American seniors to purchase prescription drugs in Canada and bring them back to the US He also has supported giving Medicare the ability to negotiate lower drug prices."
Hillary Clinton, US Senator (D-NY), stated in a May 24, 2007 speech titled "Health Care: Hillary Remarks on Reducing the Cost of Health Care" on her official candidate website:
"Let's start getting drug costs under control by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices and to lower those costs for everyone...We should also allow the importation of drugs from certain countries to lower costs and let's remove barriers to generic competition."
John Edwards, former US Senator (D-NC), on July 31, 2002 voted Yes on the "Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2002" (S.812):
"Title II - Importation of Prescription Drugs...
Declares that enforcement efforts concerning importation of prescription drugs by individuals should focus on significant threats to public health rather than importation that is clearly for personal use, particularly importation from Canada." July 31, 2002 John Edwards
Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, in a July 20, 2007 article titled "Join 'Conversation' with Rudy Giuliani" on WMUR-TV (ABC), thebostonchannel.com, stated:
"I think importation from foreign countries is good if its heavily regulated. In that particular case you have to be sure the country you are getting them from has the same standards that we have. Otherwise you run the risk... that you are getting inferior medicines, fraudulent medicines... If you do that you'd have to make sure that it was allowed from countries that had roughly the same standards that we have for verifying that medicines are correct... Right now most countries don't have those standards. But if they did that would be an acceptable way to do it."
Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas, stated in a WebMD.com article titled "Candidate Profile: Mike Huckabee" (accessed Jan. 4, 2008):
"He does not support the importation or reimportation of prescription drugs. A primary reason for this is maintaining US control over the safety of our drugs." Jan. 4, 2008 Mike Huckabee
Duncan Hunter, US Representative (R-CA), voted Yes on "Pharmaceutical Market Access Act of 2003" (H.R.2427) on July 25, 2003:
"To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations for the reimportation of prescription drugs, and for other purposes." July 25, 2003 "Pharmaceutical Market Access Act of 2003" (H.R.2427)
ProCon.org emailed the Imperato campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. Mr. Imperato provided a response to this question and 26 others during a recorded 45-minute telephone interview with ProCon.org on Mar. 11, 2008. On Mar. 21, 2008 Mr. Imperato no longer met our eligibility criteria for inclusion on this site, and we stopped transcribing his verbal responses as of that date.
Alan Keyes, former Assistant US Secretary of State, wrote in an article titled "Health Care," posted on the Alan Keyes official candidate website (accessed Apr. 4, 2008):
"To help lower health care costs, we also need to allow the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and Europe, and do other sensible things ? based on free-market principles ? that will give consumers greater choice of health care options."
Steve Kubby, founder of the American Medical Marijuana Association, stated in an Jan. 10, 2008 email to ProCon.org:
"Americans should be allowed to purchase their drugs from other countries -- but they shouldn't need a prescription to purchase their drugs in the first place." Jan. 10, 2008 Steve Kubby
Dennis Kucinich, US Representative (D-OH), cosponsored the "Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2001" (H.R. 1862) on May 16, 2001:
"Title II - Importation of Prescription Drugs...
Declares that enforcement efforts concerning importation of prescription drugs by individuals should focus on significant threats to public health rather than importation that is clearly for personal use, particularly importation from Canada." May 16, 2001, "Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2001" (H.R. 1862)
Frank McEnulty, an Independent candidate and President of Our Castle Homes, in a Dec. 20, 2007 email to ProCon.org, stated:
"An American should be allowed to purchase their prescription drugs from other countries. If someone wishes to take the chance that the drugs they are purchasing may not be as pure or even the same as the drugs they would purchase in this country it is their right as an adult to take that risk." Dec. 20, 2007 Frank McEnulty
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), stated in a Dec. 11, 2000 article titled "Dr. Paul's Writings: Drug Reimportation Increases Medical Freedom" on his campaign website:
"Reimportation [of drugs manufactured in the US and exported] is hardly a solution to our health care woes, of course, and the bill faces a highly uncertain future in the Senate. Reimportation would, however, inject a tiny measure of freedom into our increasingly regulated health care system. No American should ever enjoy less freedom by virtue of living in the US, and no American should be forced to pay higher prices for drugs that are available more cheaply overseas. The ban on reimportation is unconscionable, and most Americans know it despite the best efforts of the pharmaceutical companies and their mouthpieces."
No position found as of Jan. 9, 2008. ProCon.org also emailed the Richardson campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. They did not respond to our email.
No position found as of Jan. 9, 2008. ProCon.org also emailed the Romney campaign on Dec. 13, 2007 with this question. They did not respond to our email.
Fred Thompson, former US Senator (R-TN), voted No on the "Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2002" (S.812):
"Title II: Importation of Prescription Drugs - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to permit pharmacists and wholesalers to import (reimport) US made prescription drugs into the United States from Canada." July 31, 2002 "S.812: Greater Access to Affordable Pharmaceuticals Act of 2002"