Sanders will propose nixing marijuana from federal list of dangerous drugs

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: Washington Post

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders will announce his support Wednesday for removing marijuana from a list of the most dangerous drugs outlawed by the federal government — a move that would free states to legalize it without impediments from Washington.

The self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont plans to share his proposal during a town hall meeting with college students that will be broadcast on the Internet across the country from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

“Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use,” Sanders says in prepared remarks for the event provided to The Washington Post. “That’s wrong. That has got to change.”

No other presidential candidate has called for marijuana to be completely removed from the schedule of controlled substances regulated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-will-propose-nixing-marijuana-from-federal-list-of-dangerous-drugs/2015/10/28/be8c3adc-7da2-11e5-b575-d8dcfedb4ea1_story.html

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Finally, someone with sense, not blinded by the 'reefer madness' propaganda. nt

[arcane1]

2. Nor blinded by that sweet corporatized prison money n/t

[AzDar]

3. K & R

Edited to add: Meant to kick OP, but you make an excellent point, too

[marble falls]

4. If only we stoners voted regularly.

[BigDemVoter]

6. I know. . . . . .

I remember when I was in nursing school many, many years ago. We had a Psychiatric rotation, and we spent some time with drug addicts. I remember the instructor talking about "amotivational syndrome" as it relates to weed. . . . Those of us in the know kind of looked at one another and laughed.

[maxsolomon]

8. Speak for yourself

I've voted in every election since I turned 18 in 1981.

Mail-in ballots make it really easy.

[eggplant]

10. Cottonmouth makes licking the stamp/envelope tricky, though :) n/t

[msongs]

13. psst these days stamps and envelopes come with strip off and stick on lol nt

[eggplant]

14. Yea, I know :)

The new stamps taste terrible!

[erlewyne]

15. That is so funny!!!

No, I do not do pot ... not since the 60's

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

20. Been toking since 17, voting since 18, and still in excellent health at 60.

It's pretty damn well harmless if you can smoke it daily your whole life with NO ill health effects.

[Sunlei]

5. I'd vote for the candidate who set this up now, by pushing & asking for a mandate by President O.

I guess most of them know how to reach the president.

To decriminalize at the Federal level would totally refocus the "Drug War", refocus a lot of the local police and reduce some of those millions of non-violent people in our prisons.

[Andy823]

7. That's great

But don't we have to get congress to agree to do this before it can happen?

[Ed Suspicious]

12. Great point! I guess we need a congress to do anything other than gridlock. Bernie has an answer.

It's the only good answer. It's about getting people to take an interest and then getting them to participate in our democracy by telling congress that "we have a bill coming up. If you don't cast a vote that supports the American people, you need to find another job. We will fire you!"

[Major Nikon]

18. The technical answer is no, but the practical answer is yes

The current law requires the DHHS to commission a review before a drug can be rescheduled. The way the rules for the review work, it's possible (if not probable) the review could determine it should NOT be rescheduled, or would be rescheduled to a different category which would still render it illegal for recreational use. Now it's possible the DHHS Secretary can simply ignore the review and legalize it anyway. However, the question always comes up during the appointment process. So the question becomes could a pro-legalization president get a pro-legalization DHHS secretary appointed by the Senate?

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

21. I'd take the 5th, and drink it right in front of them.

[haikugal]

9. Very good news!

Let's get this man elected!

[Utopian Leftist]

11. The day is coming soon

when the rest of the world will know what we stoners already know: that the world made a horrible mistake when it chose alcohol over cannabis.

Imagine all the lives that will be saved . . . .

And yes, I vote. Every election since the first that was possible for me to vote in, 1988. That was the year the LA Weekly said we were offered Moses on the Mountain (Jesse Jackson) and we chose Donald Duck (George Dukakis). They were right then, and if we don't choose correctly this time, we end up with something possibly much worse than Donald Duck; possibly another infamous Donald.

[Eric J in MN]

16. Good. Moving pot from Schedule I to II not enough.

Cocaine is Schedule II and the feds still prosecute people for cocaine possession.

I hope Bernie Sanders becomes president and unschedules pot completely. Alcohol and cigarettes are unscheduled.

[alcibiades_mystery]

17. Desperation, move me brightly...