Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is making another run for the Democratic presidential nomination, he announced on Tuesday.

From his time as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, to his years in the U.S. Senate, Sanders has established himself as a champion of drug policy reform, particularly when it comes to marijuana. NORML gave the senator an “A+” grade based on his legislative track record.

And it didn’t take long for Sanders to incorporate drug reform into his latest presidential bid. In his announcement video, he reiterated that the government “needs to end the destructive war on drugs.”

“I am running for President because we need to invest in jobs and education for our kids, not more jails and incarceration. We need to end the destructive war on drugs private prisons, and cash bail, and bring about major police department reform.” @BernieSanders #Bernie2020 pic.twitter.com/9Gk96hS3dt

— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) February 19, 2019

Legislation And Policy Actions

Sanders has been behind some of the first and most wide-ranging legislative efforts to fundamentally change federal cannabis laws. He was the first major presidential candidate to endorse marijuana legalization during his last bid and, in 2015, filed the first-ever Senate bill to end federal cannabis prohibition.

The time is long overdue for us to take marijuana off the federal government’s list of outlawed drugs.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 29, 2015

He’s also attached his name to a number of reform bills in Congress, going back to his time in the House, as well as during his Senate tenure. That includes recent pieces of legislation such as the Marijuana Justice Act, which would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and punish states with discriminatory enforcement, as well as the the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, which would federally deschedule cannabis.

Now is the time to remove the ridiculous federal prohibition on marijuana. I'm proud to co-sponsor the Marijuana Justice Act. pic.twitter.com/iEAfmWdE3w

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 20, 2018

More than 20 years ago, Sanders cosponsored a House bill to legalize and regulate medical marijuana. He also signed onto legislation that would reschedule cannabis and protect states with legal medical cannabis. He cosponsored versions of that bill in the 107th, 108th and 109th Congresses.

When Sanders arrived in the Senate, he began supporting efforts to reform federal hemp laws. He cosponsored three versions of a bill introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to remove hemp from the definition of marijuana under the CSA, for example. And last Congress, he put his name on legislation to legalize industrial hemp.

The senator also backed bills to shield banks from federal prosecution if they choose to accept marijuana business accounts in legal states.

On four occasions in the House, Sanders voted in favor of amendments to protect legal medical marijuana states from federal intervention. He voted against a resolution in 1998 that was meant to express “the sense of Congress that marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medicinal use.”

Quotes And Social Media Posts

Sanders has been outspoken about his support for marijuana reform in speeches, during debates and on social media. His messaging around the issue typically falls into one of three categories:

1. Marijuana is not comparable to other drugs listed in Schedule I of the CSA, and it should be removed from that list, accordingly. 

“Right now, marijuana is listed by the federal government as a Schedule I drug—meaning that it is considered to be as dangerous as heroin. That is absurd,” he said during a rally at George Mason University in 2015. “In my view, the time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana.”

No rational person really believes marijuana should be a Schedule 1 drug next to killer drugs like heroin. And yet that’s how it’s treated.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 24, 2017

No one seriously believes that marijuana deserves to be classified beside heroin. It should not be a Schedule 1 drug.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 8, 2016

He lamented that “marijuana is listed side-by-side with heroin” during a campaign event at the University of Iowa.

“I know that you are an intelligent group of people and, very seriously, I know and I hope very much that you all understand what a killer drug heroin is,” he said. “There are two ways out when you do heroin: Number one, you’re gonna get arrested and go to jail. Number two, you’re gonna die. Stay away from heroin.”

“But in terms of marijuana what we are seeing is a lot of lives have been really hurt, because if you get a criminal record for possession of marijuana it could impact your ability to get a job,” he said. “And that is why I have introduced legislation and will move forward as president to take marijuana out of the Controlled Substances Act.”

Keeping marijuana in the same category as heroin is absurd. The time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 11, 2016

People can argue about the pluses and minuses of marijuana, but everyone knows it's not a killer drug like heroin. https://t.co/jOftq1pnL9

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) August 11, 2016

It is time to lift the federal ban on marijuana. No one sincerely believes that marijuana deserves to be classified beside heroin.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 7, 2016

Right now, under the Federal Controlled Substance Act, marijuana is a schedule one drug alongside heroin. That's pretty crazy.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) April 11, 2016

And when then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposed rescheduling cannabis and placing it in Schedule II, Sanders said he appreciated that she was addressing the issue but that her proposal “ignored the major issue,” which is that it would place “marijuana in the same category as cocaine and continue to make marijuana a federally regulated substance.”

Classifying marijuana in the same category as cocaine ignores the major issue.https://t.co/mgmHtbXhtz

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 8, 2015

2. Black Americans have been disproportionately impacted by the drug war and are more likely to be arrested for marijuana despite the fact that usage rates are roughly the same among different racial groups. 

“We must recognize that blacks are four times more likely than whites to get arrested for marijuana possession, even though the same proportion of blacks and whites use marijuana,” Sanders said in a press release. “Any serious criminal justice reform must include removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act.”

African Americans are much more likely to be arrested for using marijuana than will whites. That is unacceptable.https://t.co/kONVgRRBwO

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) November 2, 2015

“I am glad to see Baltimore will no longer prosecute marijuana possession and will move to vacate some convictions,” Sanders said after the city’s top prosecutor made that announcement in early 2019. “Thousands and thousands of people across the country have had their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use—and it’s disproportionately affecting people of color. It is time to decriminalize marijuana and end the failed war on drugs.”

Although use is about the same, a black person is almost four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) October 30, 2015

Even though the same proportion of blacks and whites use marijuana, a black person is almost 4x more likely to be arrested for possession.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 17, 2016

“Where it becomes a racial issue, it turns out that whites and blacks utilized marijuana roughly equal,” Sanders said during an interview with rapper Killer Mike in 2015. “Four times as many blacks are arrested for possession as whites. It becomes a racial issue.”

For decades, we have been engaged in a failed ‘War on Drugs’ with racially-biased mandatory minimums that punish people of color unfairly.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 16, 2016

We must end the "war on drugs," which has destroyed lives and disproportionately impacted people of color.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) December 11, 2016

“The reality is that both the African-American community and the white community do marijuana at about equal rates,” he emphasized at a debate in Wisconsin. “The reality is four times as many blacks get arrested for marijuana.”

3. It is an injustice that young people can have their lives upended by a non-violent cannabis conviction while Wall Street bankers avoid prosecution for financial crimes. 

“If some kid in Iowa or Vermont today is picked up possessing marijuana, that kid will get a police record that will stay with him for the rest of his life,” Sanders said at a rally in Iowa in 2016. “But the executives on Wall Street who drove this country into the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, whose greed and illegal behavior resulted in millions of Americans losing their jobs, their homes, their life savings, these executives who pay billions of dollars in settlement agreements with the government, not one of them has been prosecuted. Not one of them has a criminal record.”

I find it strange that the kid who smokes marijuana gets arrested but the crooks on Wall Street get off scot free.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 3, 2015

It is not acceptable that so many young people have criminal records for smoking marijuana, while the CEOs of banks do not.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 7, 2016

“It is an obscenity that we stigmatize so many young Americans with a criminal record for smoking marijuana, but oddly enough not one major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted for causing the near collapse of our entire economy,” he said during a speech before the National Urban League. “Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”

It is not acceptable that many youth have criminal records for smoking marijuana, while the CEOs of banks do not pic.twitter.com/LfO28knkTm

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 12, 2015

How many people at Wells Fargo are going to jail? Zero. But if you smoke marijuana in this country, you get a criminal record.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 20, 2016

It is an obscenity that we stigmatize so many young Americans with a criminal record for smoking marijuana… pic.twitter.com/bltCSDhyXx

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 28, 2015

Before he got behind full marijuana legalization, Sanders’s position on drug policy has varied somewhat.

When he was campaigning to be governor of Vermont in 1972, he seemed to embrace legalizing all drugs in an attempt to pushback against what he described as the “gradual erosion of freedoms and the sense of what freedom really means” under the administration of President Richard Nixon, writing that the government should “abolish all laws dealing with abortion, drugs, sexual behavior.”

As states like Colorado began legalizing cannabis for adult use, Sanders said in interviews that he recognized that the issue was gaining popularity and pledged to study it closely. He voiced support for Vermont’s decriminalization policy and medical marijuana legalization generally.

Sanders also complained about how federal laws impede the effective implementation of state-level marijuana programs, stressing that cannabis businesses struggle to access banking services, for example.

“I think there are things that the federal government can do that would make it easier for states that want to go in that direction to be able to do so,” he said in 2015. “What the federal government can do is say to the state of Colorado that if you choose to vote to legalize marijuana, we will allow you to do that without restrictions.”

He also called for federal decriminalization as a response to the “continuation of millions of people over the decades getting police records because they were caught possessing marijuana.”

Millions of Americans have police records as a result of marijuana possession, which should be decriminalized.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 26, 2016

Sanders has criticized moves from the Justice Department under President Donald Trump to dismantle guidelines on federal marijuana enforcement priorities.

No, Attorney General Sessions. Marijuana is not the same as heroin. No one who has seriously studied the issue believes that. Quite the contrary. We should allow states the right to move toward the decriminalization of marijuana, not reverse the progress that has been made.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 4, 2018

“No, Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions. Marijuana is not the same as heroin,” he said in a statement last year before Sessions rescinded the Cole memo. “No one who has seriously studied the issue believes that marijuana should be classified as a Schedule I drug beside killer drugs like heroin.”

Instead of Attorney General Sessions intensifying the failed war on drugs, states should be allowed to make their own decisions regarding the legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. https://t.co/EpXfq5HxAT

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 6, 2018

“Quite the contrary. We should allow states the right to move toward the decriminalization of marijuana, not reverse the progress that has been made in recent years,” he said.

He also congratulated Canada when the country passed a law legalizing cannabis for adult use and said “it is long past time that we in the United States end the federal prohibition on marijuana.”

And he congratulated Seattle when the city’s judges decided to green light expungements for past marijuana possession convictions.

Congratulations to Seattle for clearing past misdemeanor convictions for marijuana possession that were prosecuted before marijuana was legalized. We must decriminalize marijuana nationally and expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes. https://t.co/397PS51ios

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 25, 2018

“We must decriminalize marijuana nationally and expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes,” he wrote.

Personal Experience With Marijuana

Sanders said that he smoked marijuana decades ago but that the plant “didn’t do much for me.”

“I smoked marijuana twice and all I did was cough my guts out, so it didn’t work for me,” he said at a rally in Las Vegas. “But I do understand other people have had different experiences.”

That said, the senator has made a point of emphasizing that his efforts to reform marijuana laws is not meant “to encourage anybody to smoke marijuana.”

Marijuana Under A Sanders Presidency

As the first major presidential candidate to endorse marijuana legalization—and as someone who has introduced and cosponsored some of the most far-reaching cannabis bills in Congress—Sanders has already made marijuana history in his career. He signaled again in his announcement speech that addressing the harms of the drug war would be a priority if he’s elected, and part of that agenda would likely involve seriously considering legislation to end the federal prohibition of marijuana.

On nearly every "radical" idea the American people are with us:

72% want to expand Social Security.
70% want Medicare for All.
65% want a jobs guarantee.
64% want to legalize marijuana.
60% want tuition-free public colleges.
58% want $15 min wage.
57% want to break up big banks.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 15, 2019

While most 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have backed legalization at this point, Sanders’s long-standing record of standing up for drug policy reform gives voters relatively strong assurance that marijuana legalization would be near the top of his priorities as president.

Where Presidential Candidate Amy Klobuchar Stands On Marijuana

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A bipartisan group of members of Congress is pushing the Trump administration to provide a legal pathway for food products infused with the marijuana compound cannabidiol, better known as CBD.

In a letter sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, the lawmakers wrote that a series of recent actions by state and local officials in New York City, Maine and Ohio to crack down on the sale of CBD foods and beverages have “spurred a tremendous amount of confusion among product manufacturers, hemp farmers, and consumers of these products.”

FDA has so far refused to say whether it was involved in the local crackdowns in any way.

“In light of the aforementioned state enforcement actions and the resulting confusion, we are calling on FDA to swiftly provide guidance on lawful pathways for food products with CBD,” the 12 lawmakers, led by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), wrote to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

Following the federal legalization of hemp and products derived from it late last year through the Farm Bill, FDA released a lengthy statement saying that it reserves the right to regulate cannabis-based products. The agency would take action against businesses making unsupported claims about CBD’s therapeutic potential, it said, even if the products in question were derived from legal hemp crops, and it warned against introducing such products into interstate commerce.

Gottlieb did say in the statement, however, that “pathways remain available for the FDA to consider whether there are circumstances in which certain cannabis-derived compounds might be permitted in a food or dietary supplement.”

He also said that FDA would hold a public meeting on the issue to “gather additional input relevant to the lawful pathways by which products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds can be marketed, and how we can make these legal pathways more predictable and efficient.”

Now, the group of House members is urging him to hurry it up, and they want answers to the following questions by Friday:

1. When will FDA provide guidance on lawful pathways for food products with CBD? For example, it would seem the GRAS Notification Program would be one such pathway.

2. Has FDA advised states—such as New York, Maine or Ohio—that have recently taken enforcement actions against food products with CBD?

3. When will FDA hold a public hearing on the regulation of products containing CBD?

Hemp production is a growing market for farmers and rural communities across the country. We’re urging Commissioner @ScottGottliebMD to provide lawful pathways for hemp-derived #CBD products. #mepolitics

Read our letter ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/SSEdlNlFfG

— Chellie Pingree (@chelliepingree) February 19, 2019

“States are looking for immediate leadership from the Federal Government to eliminate confusion around this issue,” the House lawmakers wrote. “Furthermore, numerous states are pursuing legislative efforts that would allow for the intrastate commerce of food products with CBD, potentially leading to a patchwork of state regulations.”

Lawmakers joining Pingree on the letter include Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Don Young (R-AK), Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Peter Welch (D-VT), among others.

Separately, lawmakers have sent a number of other letters to federal agencies recently about aspects of the Farm Bill’s hemp legalization provisions.

For example, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), who together championed hemp legalization to passage, wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last week urging that it move “expeditiously” to implement regulations on the newly legal crop.

Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) also sent a separate letter to the FDA last month criticizing “outdated regulations,” that “limit producers from taking full advantage of the industrial hemp market” such as the development of hemp-derived CBD products.

Read the full text of the new CBD letter to the FDA below:

Lawmakers Push FDA On CBD F… by on Scribd

FDA To Take Steps Toward Allowing CBD Products Following Hemp Legalization

Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.

Marijuana Moment is made possible with support from readers. If you rely on our cannabis advocacy journalism to stay informed, please consider a monthly Patreon pledge.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) is facing backlash from marijuana legalization advocates over her early endorsement of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) in the 2020 presidential race.

The congresswoman, who last month became the first woman and first person of color to co-chair the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, and who has long been one of Capitol Hill’s most dedicated marijuana reform supporters, said in a statement that Harris has exhibited a “deep passion for justice and opportunity” throughout her career as a prosecutor.

But others have been critical of the senator’s time in the criminal justice system and particularly her role in enforcing harsh drug laws as a prosecutor. That sentiment was on full display after Lee tweeted about how marijuana criminalization has fueled mass incarceration on Saturday—two days after her endorsement of Harris.

More people are arrested for marijuana than for all other violent crimes combined. Marijuana has long been a driving force for mass incarceration in this country and I’m fighting to end it.

— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) February 17, 2019

“More people are arrested for marijuana than for all other violent crimes combined,” Lee wrote. “Marijuana has long been a driving force for mass incarceration in this country and I’m fighting to end it.”

Hundreds of Twitter users replied that the statement and her endorsement of Harris don’t line up.

Since this is true, why would you endorse someone who made sure that more than 9000 years of prison time was inflicted on marijuana-only offenders in California? https://t.co/ZxoreGbt8n

— Jeanette Sandernista (@JeanetteJing) February 17, 2019

See, when you support @KamalaHarris and her record of standing against marijuana legalization and promoting mass incarceration, you lose credibility on this and any other social justice subject. It's sad. Fortunately we have @RoKhanna and @AOC to stand up for progressive values.

— San Leandro Talk (@SanLeandroTalk) February 17, 2019

How can you reconcile this with your early endorsement of Harris? Baffling.

— Underrated Tweets (@Soligarity) February 17, 2019

That Candidate for 2020 you’re endorsing has been a driving enforcement for exactly this.

— Spaghetti (@SpaghettiSauce5) February 17, 2019

“That candidate for 2020 you’re endorsing has been a driving enforcement for exactly this,” one user said in a tweet that generated more than 300 likes.

Your words don't align with the actions of who you're supporting.

— Tiffany Y (@StarrySkies_7) February 17, 2019

Hey, you're a champ, I'm a huge fan of your work. I'm really not trying to tell you how to do your job, but backing Top Cop Kamala for president seems like a weird way to push for marijuana reform.

— Trapped with Kenny G in a rose prison (@Hawful) February 17, 2019

Marijuana arrests increased ten fold under Kamala Harris in a state where it is Legal in the state. Was hoping you wouldn't contribute to the DNC rigging the process before people in your state vote.

— K (@rabbighiniVW) February 17, 2019

Everyone else has pointed out the obvious hypocrisy with you so I'll just quietly add to the ratio

— bizzless (@kindofcody) February 17, 2019

Harris has tried to rectify her image as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, going so far as to cosponsor wide-ranging legislation to end federal cannabis prohibition. She even admitted to using marijuana during college in a recent interview.

Still, her former offices’ involvement in punitive action against low-level drug offenders during her time as a San Francisco prosecutor and California state attorney general has created a lingering perception among many reform advocates who question her motivations. And for some, the memory of Harris laughing off a reporter’s question about marijuana legalization in 2014 burns bright.

The replies to Lee’s tweet didn’t quite rise to the level of a “ratio” (a Twitter phenomenon in which a post gets more angry replies than retweets or likes), but the overwhelming pushback against her endorsement makes clear that the Democratic presidential candidate will likely continue to face skepticism from marijuana legalization supporters and the broader criminal justice reform crowd as her campaign expands and the presidential race heats up.

Lee’s office did not respond to Marijuana Moment’s request for comment on this story.

Kamala Harris’s SnoopGate Is What A Political Marijuana Controversy Looks Like In 2019

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