If you don’t think you know something the other candidates don’t, you’ll never be president.
So far, it looks like Bernie Sanders is onto something as he’s among the front runners for the Democratic nomination, and his latest pledge in the race sets him apart from the rest of the field.
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Bernie Sanders has become the first 2020 presidential candidate to go on record in favor of legal recreational marijuana in all 50 states.
In a speech at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Sanders in fact pledged to do so on his first day as president, if elected.
“We will end the destructive war on drugs,” he said, according to Forbes . “On my first day in office through executive order we will legalize marijuana in every state in this country.”
At present, 11 states already allow legal recreational use of marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Sanders’ home state of Vermont.
Sanders’s pledge goes beyond merely legalizing recreational marijuana use, however.
The senator added that “We will move forward to expunge the records of those arrested for marijuana possession, and we will make certain that the legalized marijuana industry is not controlled by a handful of corporations, but that those people — the African-American community, the Latino community, the Native American community — those people who have suffered the most will get help in order to make money through a legalized marijuana industry.”
While it’s unclear how workable that all actually is, it seems Sanders has a busy first day in office planned should he be elected.
He has already made clear his intent to roll back some of Trump’s immigration policies, singling out his travel ban in particular on several occasions and in multiple tweets.
“It is outrageous that Donald Trump continues to push a racist travel policy that dehumanizes immigrants and their families for his own political purposes,” he wrote in one.
“On day one of my administration, I will overturn this xenophobic and discriminatory ban.”
Among other orders, Sanders also intends to fast-track the importation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.
With lowering the costs of health care as one of the cornerstones of his campaign, that particular order would make sense.
As CNN reported, Sanders has a team of advisers working on a list of actions he can take on his first day in office, with a goal of getting as much of his ambitious agenda in motion as possible without a Cabinet yet confirmed.
Sanders’s team has also proposed a day one ban on exportation of fossil fuels as well as declaring a climate emergency.
Some other orders under consideration include canceling federal contacts with any company that fails to pay its workers $15/hour or more, and reversing rules that block federal funding to organizations providing abortion counseling.
Sanders has yet to formally approve the list, but it gives some idea of where he and his team’s priorities will be should he be elected. Some of his larger plans for his time in office, including enacting “Medicare for All” or the Green New Deal, would require Congressional approval.
