Democratic presidential candidate was campaigning in Michigan on Monday when he suddenly opened up about his own history with marijuana.
More on Bernie Sanders take on cannabis legalization
NEW: of The Cannabist Show.
Subscribe to our .
Watch .
One day before , the candidate dismissed other lawmakers comparisons of heroin to cannabis — and he also talked on his limited experience with marijuana.
I ve done marijuana twice in my life, when I was very young, Bernie Sanders said to the crowd s applause. And what it did for me, is it made me cough a lot — that was my response, but I gather other people have had different experiences.
Sanders called heroin a killer drug and pointedly took aim at the , which ranks cannabis alongside heroin in terms of the drugs having high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use in the U.S. and a lack of safe use.
We also know, and people can argue this til the cows come home and scientists dispute it, marijuana is not heroin, Sanders said Monday. I m not here advocating for marijuana. Marijuana is listed as a Schedule I drug alongside of heroin. (The audience booed.) I agree, and that is why I believe we should take marijuana out of the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Video: Bernie Sanders talks on marijuana and heroin
Many legalization activists have attached themselves to Sanders in part because of his cannabis platform, which would involve from the federal government s list of the most dangerous drugs.
Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use, Sanders . That s wrong. That has got to change.
While Sanders wants marijuana completely descheduled, his Democratic opponent Clinton .
We haven t done research, why? Because it s considered a Schedule I drug, . I d like to move it from Schedule I to Schedule II.
