Major news in the presidential campaign this week – Bernie Sanders has officially made it known that if elected he would act to remove cannabis from it’s place as a Schedule I drug.
This really is huge news as he is the first presidential candidate to EVER mention, let alone boldly say he would make an effort towards marijuana reform on a federal level; something that Sanders had already hinted at in a couple of different instances.
So far, the closest that any candidate other than Sanders has come to touching the subject of marijuana legalization is to say that it should be a matter left to the states to decide. However Sanders is looking at it from a different point of view – much the same as you or I.
“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 Sanders
Marijuana was determined to be a Schedule I drug according to the Controlled Substance Act back in the 1970s. It’s been 40, going on 50 years now since that act was put into place.
As a Schedule I drug, it is determined that marijuana has no medical value, potential for abuse and is not safe without medical supervision – all of which has now been disproven and can be properly studied if we were to reschedule.
“In the year 2015, it is time for the federal government to allow states to go forward as they best choose,” Sanders said.
If we were to reschedule marijuana we would be giving researchers and doctors the opportunity to study the drug in ways we have not yet been able to due to federal limitations.
While we already have knowledge of many different conditions that can be treated using medical marijuana these may not be the only ones and the only WAYS to treat conditions with marijuana – we just haven’t had sufficient time and availability to conduct proper research.
We would be able to let thousands of people out of prisons for low-level offenses pertaining to marijuana. It would be entirely up to the states to decide on rules – but this would surely make it necessary for states to do SOMETHING as far as regulation is concerned.
A whole new world of possibilities would open up to us with one simple legal measure that no one has yet been willing to make happen. Bernie Sanders says he’s the guy that will make it happen – and that probably just gained him a bunch of voters who were still undecided.
