{"id":6013,"date":"2016-05-11T02:55:39","date_gmt":"2016-05-11T02:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/?p=51091"},"modified":"2016-05-11T02:55:39","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T02:55:39","slug":"sanders-and-clinton-differ-on-marijuana-legalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/sanders-and-clinton-differ-on-marijuana-legalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanders and Clinton Differ on Marijuana Legalization"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/sanders-and-clinton-differ-on-marijuana-legalization\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>The remaining Democratic presidential contenders agree that states should be able to implement their own marijuana laws without federal interference, but the two candidates have\u00a0differing positions on whether they would personally vote to legalize cannabis if it were on the ballot in their state.<\/p>\n<p>U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said at a rally in Stockton, California on\u00a0Tuesday that he would vote for legalization in his home state of Vermont.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sanders: If a vote comes up in Vermont to legalize marijuana, I will vote yes.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bianca Graulau (@bgraulau) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bgraulau\/status\/730089146853646336\">May 10, 2016<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js?a8203f\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He also added praise for a legalization measure that is likely to appear on California&#8217;s ballot this November, calling it &#8220;pretty good.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Did Bernie Sanders just sorta endorse California marijuana legalization? &quot;You&#39;ve got a pretty good ballot initiative coming up in November.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisMegerian\/status\/730087862205456384\">May 10, 2016<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js?a8203f\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Similarly, on Monday, Sanders <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/election\/presidential-election\/article76675447.html\">told the Sacramento\u00a0Bee<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cI don\u2019t want to tell people in California, but if the wording is reasonable \u2013 I should study this up and I will \u2013 but in general I believe that we have to end prohibition regarding marijuana&#8230; Everything being equal, yes, I do favor a legalization of marijuana.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Previously, Sanders made headlines last October by becoming the first major presidential candidate in history to imply he would personally back ending cannabis prohibition.\u00a0\u201cI suspect I would vote yes,\u201d he\u00a0said when asked during this election cycle\u2019s first\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2015\/10\/13\/politics\/pot-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders\/\">Democratic primary debate<\/a>, in Nevada, about the marijuana legalization initiative that\u00a0has now qualified for that\u00a0state\u2019s November ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Sanders&#8217;s rival for the Democratic nomination, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, has been more circumspect when pressed on the issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, clearly this is going to be decided by the people of California. I\u2019m interested in following and evaluating what states are doing,&#8221; Clinton said when asked by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com\/2016\/05\/06\/clinton-talks-trump-legalizing-pot-in-exclusive-interview\/\">San Francisco&#8217;s CBS affiliate<\/a> last Friday whether she would support the proposed ballot measure in the Golden State. &#8220;I&#8217;d have to study what it said and how it would actually be implemented&#8230; I have questions about it&#8230; I&#8217;m gonna wait and draw my own conclusions about recreational when I hear about how it&#8217;s worked in various states.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Similarly,\u00a0in an\u00a0appearance last month on <a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/GMA\/video\/hillary-clinton-responds-question-legalizing-marijuana-38566835\">ABC\u2019s Good Morning America<\/a>, Clinton said,\u00a0\u201cI think I would have to study that more to see how it was phrased because it\u2019s been phrased differently in different states&#8230;\u00a0I want to wait and see what we learn from what\u2019s happening\u00a0in Colorado and other the states that have gone the whole route toward absolute legalization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both Democratic contenders, along with sole remaining Republican candidate Donald Trump, have said on numerous occasions that they would <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/blog\/news\/2016\/03\/marijuana-every-presidential-candidate-pledges-to-let-states-legalize\/\">respect the right of states<\/a> to implement their own marijuana laws without federal interference, regardless of their own position on legalization.<\/p>\n<p>For example, Sanders has said:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cI would instruct DOJ not to interfere with states who have legalized or decriminalized marijuana.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cIn my view, the time is long overdue for us to remove the federal prohibition on marijuana.\u00a0In my view, states should have the right to regulate marijuana the same way that state and local laws now govern the sale of alcohol and tobacco. And among other things, that means that recognized businesses in states that have legalized marijuana should be fully able to use the banking system without fear of federal prosecution.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cI 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.\u00a0What 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.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cWe need to take marijuana off the federal government\u2019s list of outlawed drugs.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Clinton has said:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cThese statewide experiments can help us point the way to national policy, so I\u2019ll continue the Obama Administration\u2019s enforcement guidelines that allow states to experiment.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cOn recreational, you know, states are the laboratories of democracy. We have at least two states that are experimenting with that right now. I want to wait and see what the evidence is.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cI would support states and localities that are experimenting with this.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cI really believe it\u2019s important that states like Colorado lead the way, so that we can learn what works and what doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0And I would certainly not want the federal government to interfere with the legal decision made by the people of Colorado, and enforced by your elected officials, as to how you should be conducting this business that you have approved. So, no, I want to give you the space and I want other states to learn from you, what works and what doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And Trump has said:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201cI really believe you\u00a0should leave it up to the states. It should be a state situation\u2026\u00a0In terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state by state.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201cThey\u2019ve got a lot of problems going on right now in Colorado, some big problems\u2026 If they vote for it, they vote for it.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>\u201c[Legalization has] got to be a state decision. Colorado did it as you know and I guess it\u2019s very mixed right now, they haven\u2019t really made a final determination. There seems to be certain health problems with it and that would be certainly bothersome\u2026 I think that should be up to the states.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>Find out what else the presidential contenders\u00a0have said about cannabis law by reading <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.com\/blog\/news\/2015\/04\/where-do-presidential-candidates-stand-on-marijuana\/\">Marijuana.com&#8217;s comprehensive guide to the candidates<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><\/strong>Photo Courtesy of\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/gallery-978674p1.html\">Joseph Sohm<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The remaining Democratic presidential contenders agree that states should be able to implement their own marijuana laws without federal interference, but the two candidates have\u00a0differing positions on whether they would personally vote to legalize cannabis if it were on the ballot in their state. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said at a rally in Stockton, California [&#8230;] <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2417,9,2418,1,3],"tags":[2419,2420],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6013\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}