Hey, all you lazy, weed-smoking hippies. It’s time to start paying attention to the presidential election because Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders came out as the most progressive candidate for marijuana reform.
Sanders wants to remove cannabis from the list of controlled substances, a move shy of full federal legalization but still a drastic step in the right direction. Marijuana legalization would still be a states’ rights issue, but states would have more freedom over how they handle cannabis.
By descheduling the drug, marijuana businesses in Colorado and other states could grow stronger. Right now, federal law forces marijuana businesses to operate in a cash-only model. The government prevents banks from working with these businesses, making it next to impossible for them to open bank accounts or apply for business loans.
The “socialist” running for office is introducing pro-business, libertarian legislation. Ironic, right?
This is another example of how Sanders isn’t actually the far-left communist that people make him out to be. In terms of public opinion, Sanders is the most centrist candidate running for office. Everyone else is far to the right of the American general population.
Sanders wants to deschedule marijuana. Gallup found 58 percent of the American public supported legalizing marijuana, making Sanders’ position more in-step with the American public than any other candidate running for president.
Go through his other campaign proposals, and the American people are generally on board with him. He wants to raise the minimum wage, make college tuition-free, get money out of politics and make corporations and the richest one percent of Americans pay their fair share of taxes. The American people normally agree with him on these issues.
Our current political climate skews so far to the right that a candidate sounds like a dirty socialist when he or she proposes ideas aligned with the country’s popular opinion. But here’s a little secret: Every single student at LSU is a socialist in some way, even my libertarian-leaning editor.
You go to a school subsidized by the government. Most of you probably have federal financial aid given to you by the government. The Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance found 34.05 percent of LSU students received TOPS, arguably one of the most socialist programs in America for students.
Fire stations, police stations, the post office and anything else the government runs is socialist. Your grandma’s monthly Social Security check and Medicare are the most socialist and most popular programs in America.
So stop saying Sanders is too “radical” to get elected. Don’t say he can’t win because he embraces the democratic socialist term. He’s in line with the American people both in policy and in ideology.
In fact, he polls better against most Republicans than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Various polls since September pitted Sanders and Clinton against potential Republican nominees Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina. In almost every poll, Sanders outperformed Clinton against the GOP.
However, if you still want Clinton to be our next president, don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll support Sanders’ marijuana policy in a few years.
Cody Sibley is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Opelousas, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter at @CodySibley.