Don’t Get Too Excited about Bernie Sanders’ Marijuana Legalization Proposal

TND Guest Contributor:  Adam Dick

Many marijuana legalization proponents are excited by the Wednesday announcement that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will introduce legislation in the United States Senate that would remove marijuana from the list of banned drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. Many people are jumping to the obvious conclusion that the legislation would thus remove the US government from the marijuana prohibition business altogether, leaving each state to do as it pleases regarding the plant. The press release of Sanders’ presidential campaign announcing Sanders’ marijuana law reform proposal, however, suggests that that conclusion is wrong.

The press release begins with the grand statement that Sanders “favors removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances regulated by federal law.” But, then, a few sentences later, the press release backtracks on the suggested radical legalization promise by noting that Sanders “would continue to allow federal law enforcement officials to arrest and prosecute drug dealers for trafficking in marijuana sales.” That certainly suggests Sanders wants the US government’s war on marijuana to continue in some form.

It seems wise for opponents of the US government’s war on marijuana to wait and see what the bill Sanders introduces actually says before praising it.

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The above appeared at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity website and is reprinted with permission.  To visit the website, click here. Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity is a project of Dr. Paul’s Foundation for Rational Economics and Education (F.R.E.E.), founded in the 1970s as an educational organization. The Institute continues and expands Dr. Paul’s lifetime of public advocacy for a peaceful foreign policy and the protection of civil liberties at home.  The Institute mobilizes colleagues and collaborators of Dr. Paul’s to participate in a broad coalition to educate and advocate for fundamental changes in our foreign and domestic policy.  To support the institute’s important work, click here.

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