Bernie Sanders Talks Cannabis Legalization

Democratic presidential frontrunner Bernie Sanders made an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this week to talk about his run for presidency and his fight to forge some much needed change across the United States.

In the interview, Kimmel asked him to clarify his position on cannabis legalization, to which he lead his response by suggesting the need for a major overhaul to the U.S. criminal justice system and a total castration of the drug war.

“We have more people in jail today than any other country on earth,” Sanders said. “We have large numbers of lives who have been destroyed because of this war on drugs and because people were caught smoking marijuana and so forth. I think we have got to end the war on drugs.”

While Sanders did suggest that it was important to continue monitoring the experimental states, like Colorado and Washington, in order to figure out what is working and what isn’t in regards to legal weed, he told Kimmel that he was “not unfavorably disposed to moving toward the legalization of marijuana.”

Kimmel’s line of questioning eventually moved from the serious issue of marijuana reform to a humorous interrogation over whether Sanders would consider having “postal carriers deliver marijuana to people” if he was to become the next president. Waiting for the crowd to end their laughter, Sanders quickly pulled together the perfect come back.

“That’ll get rid of the federal deficit pretty quickly won’t it?” he replied.

The comments made by the Vermont senator are consistent with those he expressed during the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas. When asked if he would support an initiative to legalize marijuana in Nevada, Sanders told the nation that he would “vote yes” because of all the lives he has seen destroyed over non-violent offenses.

“We have a criminal justice system that lets CEOs on Wall Street walk away and yet we are imprisoning or giving jail sentences to young people who are smoking marijuana,” he said.

The latest polls show Sanders and Clinton could be running a tight race in the New Hampshire primary. Both post-debate polls released earlier this week indicate that it is too close to make a prediction on who will win the Democratic nomination. However, 60 percent of the respondents believe Clinton is the one who will be chosen as nominee.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQCSySro5Tc

Which presidential candidate is more likely to legalize cannabis? Share your thoughts in the comments.