In addition to being a Vermont state Senator, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is both the former governor of Vermont and the former mayor of Burlington, where marijuana possession is decriminalized — a state-wide measure Sanders says he supports.
“If you are possessing a small amount of marijuana it should not be a criminal offense, it should be a civil [offense],” Sanders said in a recent interview with Little Village, during which he also declared his support for medicinal marijuana and alluded to the federal government’s duty to support states that choose to legalize the drug.
“In Colorado, people who run marijuana shops can’t put their money in banks, for example,” Sanders explains. “That’s a violation of federal law.”
Here, Sanders talks about ways the federal government could make the economic benefits of marijuana legalization more easily attainable:
Video production: Sara Tate, PATV Channel 18, Iowa City, IA
Interview: Stacey Walker, Fri. Sept. 4, 2015
Location: CSPS/Legion Arts, Cedar Rapids, IA.
