Democrats Upgrade Marijuana Platform to Include “Pathway to Future Legalization

While the initial draft of the Democratic Party’s campaign platform for 2016 called for modest marijuana reforms, including decriminalization for minor possession and a push for research, the party recently upgraded its position on the issue by endorsing policies that would create “a reasoned pathway to future legalization.”

Over the weekend, with just two weeks before the Democratic National Convention, the party’s platform committee engaged in a debate over an amendment brought to the table by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders calling for the elimination of marijuana from the confines of the Controlled Substances Act.
During the discussion, Sanders delegate David King, an attorney from Tennessee, argued that pot was branded as dangerous as heroin in a wicked political “craze” intended to sabotage the well being of “hippies and blacks.”