Bernie Sanders' Marijuana Legalization Plan Goes Furthest of Any Candidate

Sen. Bernie Sanders has unveiled one of the most ambitious marijuana legalization plans to date.

Yesterday, at precisely 4:20 p.m., the candidate released a detailed, sweeping proposal to legalize marijuana on the federal level. “Too many lives were ruined due to the disastrous criminalization of marijuana. Today I am releasing my plan to: Legalize marijuana with executive action, expunge past marijuana convictions, [and] invest in communities most affected by the War on Drugs,” the senator tweeted.

According to Sanders’ plan, the presidential candidate would ensure that revenue from the cannabis industry is pumped back into communities that have been most negatively affected by the War on Drugs, such as marginalized communities of color. The plan would authorize the creation of a $20 billion grant program within the Minority Business Development Agency to allow entrepreneurs of color to have the funds to start their businesses, as well as a $10 billion grant program to help fund businesses in areas that have been disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs.

Sanders’ plan would also call to review all past marijuana convictions on both the federal and state levels. All past marijuana convictions would be expunged, while current marijuana-related prison sentences will also be placed under review.

In a move fulfilling most college students’ 2 am “if I were president” fantasies, Sanders’ plan also includes a call to sign an executive order within the first hundred days of office, which will authorize the attorney general to declassify marijuana as a Schedule I drug. While Elizabeth Warren and Beto O’Rourke have both promised to use executive action to deschedule marijuana, the promise to do so within the first hundred days is unique within the campaign field, says Violet Cavendish, spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project. Such a statement “demonstrates his commitment to the issue,” she says.

-more-

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/bernie-sanders-marijuana-weed-plan-legalization-903726/