Fresh off the heels of the announcement that Bernie Sanders would call for the removal of marijuana from the controlled substances list, his campaign has started a petition demanding that states be able to legalize cannabis without restrictions. De-scheduling cannabis has long been desired by the cannabis community, but that goal seemed unlikely as most of the debate surrounding rescheduling marijuana at a lower schedule. Currently, marijuana is laughably classified as a Schedule I drug under United States Code:
(1) Schedule I.—
(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
SIGN THE PETITION
Let States Make Marijuana Legal
Someone in the United States is arrested every minute on marijuana charges. Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use. That’s wrong. That has got to change.
Bernie favors removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances regulated by federal law. Under Bernie’s proposal, people in states which legalize marijuana no longer would be subject to federal prosecution for using pot. Owners of stores that sell marijuana could fully participate in the banking system, like any other business.
States which want to regulate marijuana would remain free to do so the same way local laws now govern sales of alcohol and tobacco. Bernie would continue to allow federal law enforcement officials to arrest and prosecute drug dealers for trafficking in marijuana sales.
Add your name to stand with Bernie to let states make marijuana legal.
And on Twitter today:
It is obscene that people are getting arrested at near record rates for smoking marijuana, but not one Wall Street CEO has been prosecuted.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 28, 2015
Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use. That has got to change.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 28, 2015
The cannabis law reform community has received a lot of good news recently, from here and abroad. Senator Sanders has just added extra fuel to the fire and surely there will be even more members of the cannabis community and industry that will #FeelTheBern after today.
(Featured photo credit:Jacquelyn Martin/AP)