Bernie Sanders Expresses Support For Marijuana Legalization, While Hillary Clinton Punts On The Issue
If my social media feeds are any indication, there are a lot of people watching the 2016 Presidential debate for the Democrats on CNN right now. Anderson Cooper asked Bernie Sanders how he would vote on the marijuana legalization initiative in Nevada, and Bernie Sanders had the following to say, via Twitter:
“I suspect I would vote yes” — Sanders, on legalizing #marijuana #DemDebate
— Tom Angell (@tomangell) October 14, 2015
.@BernieSanders on NV #legalization of recreational #marijuana “we need to rethink the war on drugs and our national criminal system” — Chloe Palma Sommers (@ChloePalma) October 14, 2015
.@BernieSanders: ‘I think we have to think through this war on drugs which has done an enormous amount of damage’ — Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) October 14, 2015
Hillary Clinton was asked how she felt about marijuana legalization. Specifically she was asked about her comments that we need to wait to see how things work out at the state level, and that there has been over two years to look at. Anderson Cooper asked her if she wanted to take a position on the issue, and as many predicted, she chose to punt on the issue and say that we need to wait more time before we jump to any conclusions. She said that she supports medical marijuana, but even then, that there needs to be more research done. She did express support for decriminalization, but by that point, it was hard to know if she actually felt that way or just wanted to be done with the question. Below are some reactions from Twitter:
What does @HillaryClinton need to see from Colorado, Washington, and Oregon? legalization is working. — ReformCA (@Ready4ReformCA) October 14, 2015
During the NH primaries in 2007 @HillaryClinton gave the same answer to marijuana questions: “more research.” #DemDebate — Jon Perri (@WoodenFunk) October 14, 2015
As expected, Hillary Clinton sidesteps the question of the legalization of #Marijuana while Bernie Sanders says he would vote for it. — Cannabis Radio (@Cannaradio) October 14, 2015
What do TWB readers think about the answers provided at the debates? I was disappointed that all of the candidates weren’t asked about marijuana policy, and that it seemed kind of like a last minute addition to the debate than the time the topic truly deserved. With that being said, it’s still refreshing and encouraging to see marijuana policy covered at all, because it wasn’t that long ago that having a marijuana policy question asked on that level of a stage seemed like a far fetched hope. That’s a fantastic thing.
Tom Angell from the Marijuana Majority had the following to say about the debate:
“This is the first time we’ve seen a major candidate for president say he’d probably vote for legalizing marijuana if given the chance. That says a lot about how far the politics on this issue have shifted in a very short amount of time. As a point of reference, in 2008 no major candidate even supported decriminalization when asked in a debate, and our movement had to chase them around New Hampshire and repeatedly harass them just to garner pledges to stop federal raids on state-legal medical marijuana patients. Legalization is at the forefront of mainstream American politics, and politicians are starting to treat it as such.”
