Sanders would sign an executive order within the first 100 days of office, authorizing the attorney general to declassify marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
In 1972, Sanders wrote in a letter to a local Vermont newspaper, that he supported abolishing "all laws dealing with abortion, drugs, sexual behavior (adultery, homosexuality, etc.)" while running for Governor of Vermont.
Sanders supported the Smarter Sentencing Act of 2014, which would have adjusted federal mandatory sentencing guidelines for a number of crimes in an effort to reduce the size of the current U.S. prison population. Namely, it would have reduced mandatory sentences for drug offenses, would have expanded the ability of non-violent offenders to reduce their sentences, and would have enabled federal prisoners to seek retroactive sentence adjustment under the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010.
Sanders would legalize marijuana and vacate and expunge past marijuana convictions.
Sanders co-sponsored the 2019 Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, which would federally decriminalize cannabis.
Sanders sponsored the Opioid Crisis Accountability Act in 2018, which aims to establish criminal penalties for drug companies who negligently omit information about the risk of addiction in advertising, and limits the quantity of opioids that are delivered to each state.
Sanders filed the first bill in the Senate in 2015 to end cannabis prohibition.
Sanders has called the War on Drugs, "a costly, destructive, and ineffective" policy
Sanders co-sponsored the 2017 Marijuana Justice Act, which aimed to deschedule marijuana as a Schedule I drug.
Sanders promises to end the War on Drugs.
Sanders would institute a full review of the current sentencing guidelines and end the sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine.
Sanders co-sponsored the States' Rights to Medical Marijana Act of 2001, which would have turned marijuana into a Schedule ll substance.
“What I can tell you is this: We have far, far, far too many people in jail for nonviolent crimes, and I think in many ways, the war against drugs has not been successful.”
“Once you’re into heroin, it’s either jail or death”
“The fact that marijuana is classified next to cocaine or heroin under federal law is absolutely ridiculous. We need to legalize marijuana in this country and furthermore, expunge any criminal records pertaining to the use of marijuana.”
Read More
Presidential Candidates, the Election, and Drug Policy
Psychology Today, May 7, 2019 | Adi Jaffe, Ph.D
Bernie Sanders was decades ahead of the country on gay rights and ending the war on drugs
Vox | July 7, 2015 | German Lopez
