This past Sunday at a rally in Wisconsin, in a final effort to win over voters before the state’s April 5 primary, Bernie Sanders argued that marijuana should be decriminalized, stating that the drug is lot less addictive and harmful to one’s body than other illicit drugs.
“We can argue about the science and the pluses and minuses about marijuana, but everybody knows marijuana is not a killer drug like heroin,” he said. “It should not be a federal crime.”
Last year, Sander’s talked to students at George Mason University in Virginia and pledged to remove cannabis from the federal government’s list of outlawed, dangerous substances.
“It is time to tax and regulate marijuana,” Sanders preached. “It is time to end the arrest of so many people and the destruction of so many lives for the possession of marijuana.”
With the audience’s attention on him, Sanders expressed that the criminalization of marijuana is a racial issue, comparing the smoking habits of African-Americans and Caucasian people.
“It turns out that blacks and whites smoke marijuana at equal levels,” he said. “Blacks are four times more likely to get arrested for marijuana than are whites.”
Sanders’ campaign is not suggesting the complete legalization of marijuana, but rather a “sweeping de-classification,” where states could create their own laws regarding the drug, like they do with alcohol and tobacco.
This change would take away the threat of federal prosecution for individuals who buy or use cannabis in states where the drug is legal.
Personally, I agree 100 percent with Sanders on his views on marijuana decriminalization. There are so many other high-risk drugs in the world that people get addicted to; pot should not be placed in the same category as life-threatening drugs like heroin and cocaine. Marijuana does not put people’s lives in risk. If anything, cannabis provides relief for people with physical and mental issues, and that should be enough.
Featured image via Getty/Ralph Freso
