The First Democratic Presidential Debate Is Tonight, Will Candidates Talk About Marijuana Policy?
The long awaited, highly anticipated first Democratic Presidential debate is tonight on CNN (5:30 PST). Marijuana took center stage for a portion of the last Republican debate, with Jeb Bush admitting (and apologizing) that he had consumed marijuana over four decades ago. That led to other candidates expressing their support for marijuana reform, while others used it as an opportunity to spread as much reefer madness as they could muster up.
The Democratic Presidential debate will hopefully see the topic of marijuana covered. Marijuana reform is extremely popular right now, with many key swing states either voting on marijuana reform in 2016, or they already have marijuana reform on the books. Marijuana reform traditionally has been supported more by liberals than conservatives in American politics, so there’s simply no excuse in my opinion that the topic shouldn’t be covered tonight during the Democratic Presidential debate on CNN, and covered extensively.
I think that we will see candidates that are trailing quite a bit come out strongest on this topic because they know it’s an issue that has traction. I think we will see Hillary Clinton say whatever her ‘handlers’ thought was the best position to take for the evening on the topic, claiming that she has ‘evolved’ on this issue, but of course hasn’t done anything to put actions behind her words.
I think the moment that everyone will be on the edge of their seat for when it comes to the topic of marijuana at the debates is if/when Bernie Sanders talks about it. He has hinted at a marijuana reform strategy, but has yet to unveil any details. Bernie has laid a lot of groundwork leading up to such a revealing of a strategy, and I’m wondering if he was saving the particulars for tonight. A debate on CNN with the entire world watching would be a great time to do it, that’s for sure.
What do TWB readers think? Do you think marijuana will come up as a topic at the debate? Is there something in particular that you are looking for from a particular candidate? Get your popcorn ready, and pull up a chair, because I have a feeling that marijuana is going to be front and center for a healthy chunk of the debate, and if so, I can’t wait to hear what the candidates have to say!
