Where They Stand on Legalizing Marijuana

Legalization, Social Equity, Vote -

Where They Stand on Legalizing Marijuana

For those watching the current Democratic Primary Race we'd like to offer a summary of where each candidate stands on the legalization of marijuana or, as we prefer to call it - cannabis.

Senator Bernie Sanders

According the Bernie Sanders campaign he states to do the following:

  • Legalize marijuana in the first 100 days with executive action
  • Vacate and expunge all past marijuana-related convictions
  • Ensure that revenue from legal marijuana is reinvested in communities hit hardest by the War on Drugs
  • Ensure legalized marijuana does not turn into big tobacco

His plan can be found here.

Former Vice President Joe Biden 

According the Joe Biden campaign he states to do the following:

  • Decriminalize the use of cannabis
  • Automatically expunge all prior cannabis use convictions
  • Support the legalization of cannabis for medical purposes
  • Allow states to decide the legalization of cannabis for recreational
  • Reschedule cannabis as a schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts

His plan can be found here.

 Senator Elizabeth Warren

 According the Elizabeth Warren campaign she states to do the following:

  • Work with Congress to legalize marijuana
  • If Congress refuses to take action she will act decisively on legalization starting on day one
  • Will appoint agency heads, including at the Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who support legalization
  • Will direct those agencies to begin the process of delisting marijuana via the federal rule-making process
  • Will reinstate the Obama administration’s guidance on deferring to state policy on marijuana enforcement to prevent uncertainty in the states while legalization is pending at the federal level
  • Will also encourage these agency heads to develop grant programs and draft rules to support a racial justice approach to marijuana legalization
  • Will prohibit the denial of federal benefits, such as housing, because of the use or possession of, or even a past conviction for, marijuana

Her plan can be found here. 

Former Governor Michael Bloomberg 

Bloomberg's latest calls for the decriminalization of marijuana is quite suspect. 

According New York Times Opinion writer Charles Blow here's why.

"It was an absolute outrage to hear Bloomberg call for the decriminalization of marijuana and the expunging of criminal records for those caught with small amounts of the drug.
As the Drug Policy Alliance pointed out in 2012: “In the last decade since Michael Bloomberg became mayor, the NYPD has made 400,038 lowest level marijuana possession arrests at a cost of $600 million. Nearly 350,000 of the marijuana possession arrests made under Bloomberg are of overwhelmingly young Black and Latino men, despite the fact that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young Blacks and Latinos.”
(Citation Feb. 27, 2020 - Bloomberg, the Mayor Who Menaced Blackness by Charles Blow)

 

Candidate Mike Bloomberg does not have a plan posted on campaign site.  

Final Thoughts:

As the primary field gets smaller for those who support the legalization of cannabis use, it is imperative to be vigilant on holding the candidates accountable not only for what they say but what their records. We must continue to question and speak out if federal changes are going to come. The time is now. 

No more hiding what this plant can do for the quality of people lives for those who choose to use it. We have a right to this plant. 

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