Senator Bernie Sanders: It's Time To Decriminalize Marijuana - All In - MSNBC

[Donkees]

Published on Apr 20, 2018
The Vermont senator discusses his bill to change federal marijuana law and why Trump "deserves credit" for addressing U.S. trade policy.

[drray23]

1. I am confused. I thought Schumer did.

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/20/604136116/on-4-20-chuck-schumer-to-introduce-bill-to-decriminalize-marijuana

Is Sanders a co-sponsor or it's another bill ?

[Donkees]

2. Sanders co-sponsored Booker's bill and later that same day Schumer introduced another bill....

[emulatorloo]

3. Well good on Bernie supporting Booker and Schumers bills. Kick and Rec n/t

[George II]

6. So then why in your OP did you claim it was "his" bill (i.e., Sanders) when clearly it's not?

[Gothmog]

8. I was curious about this

[George II]

5. It's Booker's bill which was introduced in August 2017, more than nine months ago.

[George II]

4. It's not HIS bill, it's Cory Booker's bill which he introduced way back in August 2017...

....and it had already been co-sponsored by Senators Wyden of Oregon and Gillibrand of New York.

Sanders is "Johnny Come Lately" on this issue and this bill. Why have you falsely attributed Booker's bill to Sanders?

[Qutzupalotl]

7. Not true.

Sanders is definitely not Johnny come lately on this issue; he has led on it. He has advocated legalization for years. Sanders talked about it during his campaign, and there's this:
https://polis.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=397969

I honestly don't understand the knee-jerk Bernie bashing here anytime somebody says something good about him. Just let it stand, FFS.

[Gothmog]

9. It is still not Sanders bill

[progressoid]

10. The butt-hurt is strong with many here.

If Bernie hadn't run, then Hillary would be president because....reasons.

[Amimnoch]

18. Sarcasm intended or not I agree with your statement. Nt.

[George II]

11. Not many have a problem when somebody says something good about him, but.....

....I think people get put off when the work of others (in this case Cory Booker) is attributed to him.

Don't you find the OP's statement "The Vermont senator discusses his bill to change federal marijuana law" disingenuous and false?

And if he's so zealous about changing the Federal marijuana law, why didn't he endorse it when Booker introduced it instead of waiting nine months?

[Qutzupalotl]

13. That does not excuse your false smear.

Bernie has been on this issue a LONG time.

[George II]

14. It's not a smear and it's not false.

What is false is the OP's claim that the bill under discussion is Sanders'.

[Qutzupalotl]

15. You said he was a Johnny come lately on this issue.

That is a lie.

[George II]

16. Hmmmm....https://berniesanders.com/issues/

Don't see it, nor have I been able to find any legislation that he's introduced in his two+ decades in the House and Senate.

Plus, as has been mentioned, Cory Booker introduced this bill in August, nine months ago. Why not co-sponsor it back then?

And please address the false statement in the OP "The Vermont senator discusses his bill to change federal marijuana law".

Is it Sanders' bill or is it Booker's bill?

[Qutzupalotl]

17. He ran on it.

https://www.marijuana.com/news/2016/06/sanders-pushes-marijuana-reform-in-democratic-platform/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/11/hillary-clinton-should-support-sanders-weed-bill.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-will-propose-nixing-marijuana-from-federal-list-of-dangerous-drugs/2015/10/28/be8c3adc-7da2-11e5-b575-d8dcfedb4ea1_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1c321656dd05

Any inaccurate wording in the OP does NOT excuse lying on your part.

[Amimnoch]

20. So the OP is innacurate but George is lying?

Different standards of what constitutes honesty?

George stated it wasn’t part of the Independent Senators platform. It’s published. It’s online. I also don’t see it listed on the issues page. As near as I can tell that is an accurate statement.
Is it buried somewhere in there at https://berniesanders.com/issues/ ?

George also stated that he didn’t see or find any evidence that in all of his years in the Senate, the independent senator didn’t propose his own legislation (including the one that is the subject of the OP) to legalize. At least one of your articles does refute that claim, the marijuana legalization act of 2015 is absolutely verifiable at https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/2237 (a shame that bill never got co-sponsored, or through to a vote imo). That makes his statement inaccurate, it does not make him a liar.

I must admit, before your links of evidence, I’d believed the same as George. Thank you for the information, but you might want to tone down the accusations of lying. There’s a difference between posting a position in good faith but lack of information, and an intention of deceiving.

(Deleted the duplicate, was posted under the wrong reply)

[Qutzupalotl]

21. Yes.

The OP calls it Sanders' bill because he is a co-sponsor. I think that's an easy mistake to make, so I give Donkees the benefit of the doubt. (On edit: I do think the OP should correct his/her post.)

Your point about not proposing his own legislation earlier is well-taken. But what I had an issue with was the Johnny-come-lately mischaracterization, which appeared gratuitous and deliberate. I call deliberate misinformation a lie.

[George II]

22. "Bernie has been on this issue a LONG time"...and yet the longest time ago that you could find...

....is about 2 years ago. For someone who has been in the House and Senate for ~25 years, that's relatively recent. Why isn't this issue in the list of 34 issues on his website?

With respect to Booker's 9-month old bill, which he just co-sponsored a day or two ago, that's "Johnny-come-lately". Call it a lie, but it's true.

[Qutzupalotl]

23. On this bill but not the issue.

That part is a lie and a gratuitous smear. You forget his prior bill and advocacy on this issue during the campaign.

[George II]

24. Again, he's been a legislator for more than 25 years yet he got on this issue only 2-1/2 years ago..

....that's NOT a long time. "During the campaign", yet his campaign website doesn't even mention it?

By the way, his position in 2015 was NOT to legalize marijuana but to remove the Federal prohibition and allow states to pass laws to legalize or regulate marijuana use - BIG difference on "this issue". And even as recently as 2016 he wasn't fully in favor of legalized recreational marijuana:

http://www.ontheissues.org/Domestic/Bernie_Sanders_Drugs.htm

"Bernie wants to learn more about the impact that recreational legalization will have in states such as Colorado in order to determine whether or not he supports it"

You can keep calling me a liar, but it won't change the truth.

[Qutzupalotl]

28. Who said his website doesn't mention it?

We need to turn back from the failed “War on Drugs” and eliminate mandatory minimums which result in sentencing disparities between black and white people.
We need to take marijuana off the federal government’s list of outlawed drugs.
We need to allow people in states which legalize marijuana to be able to fully participate in the banking system and not be subject to federal prosecution for using pot.
https://berniesanders.com/issues/racial-justice/

And seriously, he talked about it all the time on the campaign trail. You never heard him speak for more than a few minutes?

[George II]

29. Once again, "FEDERAL" list of "outlawed drugs", even today. He's still on the fence about....

....universal legalization of marijuana. Has he ever come out in favor of that?

[Qutzupalotl]

30. Yes.

Early on, he advocated legalization of all drugs:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/05/young-bernie-sanders-liberty-union-vermont/

Since then, his position has moderated, after seeing the ravages of heroin. That was all decades ago, which is why I objected to the Johnny-come-lately on this issue remark.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

26. How dare you give Bernie credit for ANYTHING!! /sarcasm

[Qutzupalotl]

27. Exactly.

[mcar]

12. His bill?

I thought it was Booker's bill.

[ehrnst]

25. Yes, I noticed that, too. (nt)