Taking a Closer Look at Bernie Sanders' Cannabis Plan

Taking a Closer Look at Bernie Sanders’ Cannabis Plan

Bernie Sanders, presidential hopeful for the 2020 elections have long been a supporter of cannabis reform. Whether you like his politics or not, we can’t deny that Sanders knows how to talk to the Youths – which is weird, but he’s got some sort of an appeal.

In all likeliness, Sanders will not be the democratic nominee for the 2020 elections and this entire “plan” would probably not matter. Nonetheless, it’s important that we analyze these types of initiatives to see where politicians are in relation to the attitude of cannabis of the people.

Like it or not, Bernie is one of the most supportive candidates in terms of legalization and vowed to legalize cannabis nationally within the first 100 days of his presidency (if he wins of course).

But how will he do it?

Sanders’ Plan to Legalize

The following comes directly from his website;

Legalize marijuana in the first 100 days with executive action by:

Nominating an attorney general, HHS secretary, and administrator for the DEA who will all work to aggressively end the drug war and legalize marijuana
Immediately issuing an executive order that directs the Attorney General to declassify marijuana as a controlled substance
While Congress must aggressively move to end the war on drugs and undo its damage, as president Bernie will not wait for Congress to act.
Declassifying marijuana will eliminate the current onerous barriers to banking services for growers and dispensaries and allow them to access the banking system like any other business.
Passing legislation to ensure permanent legalization of marijuana

Source

The first point he makes about “nominating an attorney general”, “HHS secretary” and “DEA Admin” that will work to end prohibition gives us insight to how much Sanders actually knows about the issue. In fact, this “Trio” of individuals have been stonewalling cannabis legalization since the inception of the DEA in the 1970s.

The “Tripod of Big Pharma” has acted as the gatekeepers for many decades now and it would be vitally important to replace all three of those people in order to achieve his goal. Sanders understands the mechanisms that have kept cannabis illegal for so long and will aim to change that by changing the heads of these agencies.

The second point he makes about “Declassifying cannabis” as a controlled substance is another excellent example of how Sanders understands the political shit-show. The fact that cannabis is a controlled substance means that it falls under the jurisdiction of the FDA – who we all know is mostly owned by Big Pharma.

By removing it from the CSA (Controlled Substance Act), he strips these entities of their power and would probably require to create a specific cannabis agency for federal regulations. In all likeliness it would fall under the authority of the ATF (Alcohol/Tobacco & Firearms) which would probably get an additional letter (ATFC).

Bernie’s third point essentially says that he wouldn’t care what Congress thinks. He’d legalize cannabis with an Executive Order if necessary. The declassification of cannabis would also immediately open up banking options for cannabis businesses.

This will allow cannabis businesses to take advantage of all the different legal tools available for any other type of market in the US. They would be able to get Tax cuts, pay their employees through digital means, allow customers to use their credit cards and so forth without raising any red flags.

The final point he makes is that he will not allow cannabis to be made illegal again. This is something that is definitely interesting. It would mean that cannabis wouldn’t be able to be prohibited like it was in 1937. It would ensure that the industry is poised to grow and become a staple in the American economy.

Additionally, Sanders will be expunging cannabis records similar to the way that California is doing currently.

Other Points of interest

Sanders has a long list of things he’d do including;

Helping those affected by the War on Drugs

Sanders’ plan includes minorities and communities affected by the War on drugs by creating a fund for communities generated by the legal cannabis industry.

Encourage collectives

Sanders also doesn’t want cannabis to turn into Big Tobacco, and so he’ll be far more lenient on collectives and non-profit cannabis type businesses. This doesn’t mean that he’ll ban “for profit” businesses, however non-profits will have extra benefits.

Another awesome point is that he would ban tobacco companies from participating in the cannabis marketplace – this will essentially allow the cannabis industry to grow without the influence of Big Tobacco.

Finally, he’ll create a Federal standard for cannabis regulation, protecting consumers from deceptive business practices recently highlighted by the latest vaping epidemic.

Conclusion

Sanders definitely would be awesome for the cannabis industry at large, however, the chances of him winning the democratic ticket is quite low.