Photo Credit: Phil Roeder
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says that he would fully legalize marijuana within 100 days of taking office if he were elected president of United States. “Too many lives were ruined due to the disastrous criminalization of marijuana,” the Democratic presidential candidate declared in a tweet alongside his plan.
To bring his plan to fruition, Sanders intends to nominate an attorney general willing to declassify marijuana as a controlled substance and immediately issue an executive order directing him or her to do so. He thus intends to circumvent any possible legislative block from a Republican-controlled Congress. Although he wants to pass legislation to enshrine the change into law as soon as possible, “President Bernie will not wait for Congress to act.”
Learning From Relevant Experiences
The plan, as revealed on his website, is possibly the most extensive and ambitious national marijuana legalization project to date, and it reflects lessons from similar initiatives across the country—and the world. It pulls, in part, from the experience of cannabis legalization in Illinois, which was, at the time, the most ambitious statewide legalization initiative in the country, as evidenced by its large social justice aspects. Sanders recognizes that the main victims of the so-called War on Drugs were racial minorities, and his plan addresses the issue:
“Why is it that millions of dollars are being made by mostly white, mostly male and already rich ‘cannabiz’ entrepreneurs in states where marijuana is legal, while the people and communities that were ravaged by the War on Drugs have been shut out of the industry, denied credit, and many are still incarcerated? That is going to change when Bernie is president.”
As such, one of the key points of his plan is to ensure that the now-legal marijuana industry essentially benefits the communities that most suffered from its prohibition. Additional tax revenue will be put to good use by creating grants, training and job-creating programs in the legal industry prioritizing individuals who have been arrested for marijuana offenses or who come from areas that were disproportionately impacted by the former federal marijuana ban.
Inspired by California’s model, Sanders plans to expunge all past marijuana-related convictions in a massive sweep. According to his program, “Prosecutors will have one year to appeal or object, after which, authorities will automatically expunge and vacate past marijuana convictions for all those eligible.”
Similar to Mexico’s legalization bill, Sanders wants to stop big corporations from appropriating the budding cannabis market, focusing instead of fostering small businesses, nonprofits, a sense of community and local economic growth. Additionally, he promises to prohibit deceptive marketing and attempts to attract the young and the vulnerable, as well as banning all “companies that have created cancer-causing products”—including all tobacco companies—from participating in the newly legalized marijuana industry. This has the benefit of addressing one of the main fears of the opponents of marijuana legalization: A recent Gallup poll found that more than 60% of them fear that legalization would lead to an irresponsible spread of the drug.
Powerful Political Advantage
While most such projects assume removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act is enough, this one sets itself apart with its thorough and human plan to mend American communities hurt by previous marijuana legislation.
Sanders was, from the beginning of his political career, a staunch defender of legalization, and this new step reflects decades of reflection and genuine interest in the issue. For decades, Sanders was the only one among the current roster of Democratic presidential hopefuls to express his support for marijuana (most of the rest of the 2020 candidates only began to come out in support of reform when public opinion started to shift in the ’10s).
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is currently among the leading candidates in the Democratic presidential field, was one of the slowest candidates to express support for cannabis legalization, and former Vice President Joe Biden is the only Democratic candidate who actually opposes it. This sets Sanders apart from his rivals in a country where more than three-quarters of Democratic voters support marijuana reform, which is a major issue nationwide and is certain to play a role in the voting in the Democratic primaries and caucuses.
