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Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Sanders to legalize cannabis by executive order

Bernie Sanders Says He Would Legalize Marijuana by Executive Order - Andrew Whalen, Newsweek:

August 7, 2019 - "Legalizing marijuana has long been part of Bernie Sanders' policy platform.... But in a recent interview, Sanders got specific, pledging to legalize marijuana by executive order.

"'When I ran for president for the Democratic nomination in 2016, I talked about a broken criminal justice system, which ends up having in the United States more people in jail than any other country,' Sanders told Joe Rogan on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. And what I call for then, and I call for now, is the legalization of marijuana in America'....

"Sanders' approach to marijuana legalization takes aim at the Controlled Substances Act, which puts cannabis in the same Schedule One category as heroin, MDMA and psilocybin.

"'That is insane. Heroin is a killer drug,' he said on the episode. 'You can argue the plusses and minuses of marijuana, but marijuana ain't heroin. So we have to end that and that's what I will do as President of the United States. I believe we can do that through executive order and I will do that.'

"In 2016, Sanders became the first major presidential candidate to endorse marijuana legalization. That position followed The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2015, a Senate bill he authored that would have removed marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill received no co-sponsors....

"'I think ultimately we have got to legalize marijuana, and what's good news is some communities, some cities, are expunging the records. So if you were arrested [and] have a criminal record for selling marijuana, that is being expunged. And that is the right thing to do,' Sanders told Rogan....

"Other Democratic candidates have agreed with Sanders, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg, all of whom have signaled their intention to legalize pot and expunge criminal records for marijuana convictions."

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sanders-legalize-marijuana-executive-order-1453140
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