Just before heading on to the Senate floor to deliver a speech on removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, Bernie Sanders stopped by Thomas Roberts’ show on MSNBC to supposedly answer questions about marijuana.
He ended up having to fend off horse race questions regarding his opponent Hillary Clinton for the first few minutes, but managed to bring the discussion back around to his commitment for criminal justice reform before Roberts veered the conversation back towards horse race politics.
Sanders did manage to insert some facts into the discussion, previewing some of the remarks he would later give on the Senate floor. When finally asked about removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances here is what Sanders had to say:
“What I just said yesterday is that I am extremely distressed that in this country we have more people in jail than any other country on earth. More than China, a country four times our size. And we have got to deal with among other things, serious criminal justice reform, including reform of our drug laws. I think it is absurd that over the years millions of people have been arrested for smoking marijuana. When you get a criminal record, it impacts your whole life and it stays with you, and that’s why I think we should remove marijuana from the list of dangerous drugs on the Controlled Substances Act. States around this country are now voting to legalize the use of marijuana. They should be allowed to go forward without federal legal impediments.”
Video courtest of MSNBC. His remarks on marijuana start at about 3:29:
