Hip hop artist Killer Mike’s passionate introduction of Bernie Sanders before a raucous crowd in Atlanta, Georgia, has made the waves on social media with many progressives touting his inspiring speech. While many political pundits may discount the importance of an endorsement from a rapper named Killer Mike, the support could […]

The online audience declares Bernie Sanders the debate winner again following the second Democratic primary debate that focused heavily on foreign policy following the recent tragic terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut. It doesn’t come as a surprise that Bernie Sanders wins online polls as his base of support includes […]

UPDATE: Holly Holm defeated Ronda Rousey to win the UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 193. Ronda Rousey is obviously not afraid of speaking her mind. From her belief that women don’t need others to take care of them to sex, Rousey seems to speak authentically off the cuff. Some love […]

On one hand, Hillary Clinton should be commended for moving in the right direction on marijuana policy. It is a testament to the momentum of the cannabis law reform movement that the Democratic frontrunner, not exactly known to be a progressive trailblazer on most social issues, espouses solid political rhetoric […]

Bernie Sanders continued his support for sensible Drug War reforms by introducing a bill that would effectively end federal marijuana prohibition, treating cannabis similar to alcohol. Throughout the Democratic primary, Sanders has continued to unveil a progressive cannabis policy platform. The Vermont Senator has stated that the Drug War is […]

Fresh on the heels of his major announcement on ending federal marijuana prohibition and challenging front-runner Hillary Clinton on cannabis legalization, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has launched his first campaign commercial. The commercial, titled “Real Change”, doesn’t mention legalization, but does stress his anti-establishment credentials and his long history of […]

Hillary Clinton has talked a pretty good talk on criminal justice reform during the 2016 Democratic primary, but she disappointed many cannabis law reform advocates by refusing to endorse marijuana legalization. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has long enjoyed the support of many cannabis law reformers and the insurgent […]

Hillary Clinton is still the odds on favorite for the Democratic nomination, even as Bernie Sanders’ agenda items seem to set the tone for the Democratic primary debates. Sanders has led the way on most progressive issues, including marijuana legalization and criminal justice reforms. The Vermont Senator has staked out […]

Candidates vying for the presidency diverged this week quite a bit, with Bernie Sanders on one end, supporting the descheduling of marijuana as a controlled substance, effectively ending federal cannabis prohibition and Republicans Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Ben Carson seemingly on the other end, wanting to […]

Bernie Sanders’ proposal to deschedule cannabis by removing marijuana from the list of scheduled drugs shook the cannabis law reform movement in the best way possible. For the most part, the cannabis community has celebrated victory after victory in recent years and Sanders’ announcement that marijuana should be descheduled falls […]

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have ran, for the most part, very issue-driven campaigns, rarely taking the bait to really engage each other or mention each other on the campaign trail. While Republican candidates and the media have not, and likely are not, going to drop Clinton’s private email and […]

Americans now favor marijuana legalization by a healthy margin, as proven in a new Gallup Poll. This realization is now influencing the 2016 Presidential election. Candidates supporting continued criminal prohibition of cannabis now face strong headwind of American public opinion. The Gallup pollsters concluded: Americans’ support for legalizing marijuana is […]

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CNN’s coverage of the first Democratic presidential debate drew both praise and controversy across the political spectrum. Many people felt that Anderson Cooper did a great job asking tough questions of the candidates and sticking to the issues. Others criticized CNN for declaring Hillary Clinton the winner of the debate, […]

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) had already won the hearts and minds of many cannabis law reform advocates before the first Democratic presidential debate by stating that he would personally vote “YES” on marijuana legalization and called for reforming our failed War on Drugs. Hillary Clinton provided good answers as well, […]

“The third rail of a nation’s politics is a metaphor for any issue so controversial that it is “charged” and “untouchable”; any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject will invariably suffer politically.” Reforming our marijuana laws and the greater Drug War have often been declared a […]

Millions of Americans tuned into the Democratic presidential debate tonight to hear about the major issues facing our nation. Cannabis law reformers were waiting for the Democrats to discuss marijuana legalization and Anderson Cooper even teased the cannabis question over a commercial break, stating that, “Some of the candidates have tried […]

It was surprising that a Google Consumer Surveys poll conducted for Independent Journal (IJ.com) showing Senator Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton narrowly, 38.4% to 37.6%, a virtual tie, didn’t get more media attention. Granted, the poll seems like an outlier at the moment as other national polls have had the Democratic frontrunner […]

Politicians can make many claims about positions and policies. Some politicians have a long track record of being on the right side of an issue, while others can be politically calculating, depending upon which way the political winds blow. A few politicians have the track record, take the time to […]

Many headlines regarding the latest Suffolk/USA TODAY poll contain headlines about the strong lead that Hillary Clinton maintains, downplyaing (if not ignoring) the impressive gain made by Bernie Sanders (and corresponding drop in support for Clinton). The Suffolk/USA TODAY poll does have the former Secretary of State leading the Vermont […]

Maybe good news for Bernie shouldn’t be such big news as he has leads in Iowa and New Hampshire and has been gaining nationally. However, the conventional wisdom is still that Hillary Clinton is the big prohibitive favorite and that Sanders is going to have a hard time garnering support […]

Bernie Sanders has long been considered a longshot to defeat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. If he is going to be able to unseat the Democratic frontrunner, he has to win the New Hampshire primary (and the Iowa caucus would certainly be very helpful as well). New Hampshire […]

Many cannabis law reform advocates and Drug War reformers have certainly rallied behind Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The insurgent candidate has stated that he will consider legalizing marijuana; that states should be able to legalize without restrictions; he has called the Drug War a failure; and he has introduced a […]

You know the dealer, the dealer is a man With the love grass in his hand Oh but the pusher is a monster Good God, he’s not a natural man I said God damn, God, God damn The Pusher man –Hoyt Axton, “The Pusher” There is a drug called Daraprim. […]

Utah would seem to be fertile ground for GOP-outsider Ben Carson, a religious, soft-spoken neurosurgeon, but not democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, but both have surged ahead in the latest poll sanctioned by UtahPolicy.com. The poll, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, found Carson leading national frontrunner Donald Trump 18% to […]

The Drug War has been a failed disaster by any measure, destroying lives and bankrupting budgets across our great nation. The mass incarceration of nonviolent people for drugs has been a tragic epidemic that has disproportionately hurt people of color and citizens living in poverty. For far too long, politicians […]

Today, at a Denver event billed as a “marijuana legalization listening session,” Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley confirmed that, if elected, he would use his executive authority to reschedule cannabis as a Schedule 2 substance. He also indicated that he would be willing to push for full legalization after “two […]

The 2016 election is shaping up to be a landmark year for the cannabis community, with more marijuana legalization measures passed in any one year, not to mention a the potential to elect a president willing to allow states to legalize “without restriction“, at least support the ability of localities […]

Hat tip to Tom Angell over at Marijuana.com, who we first saw post about Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ comments on cannabis law and greater Drug War reform in an interview with Little Village, a public access program on Iowa public access radio. The progressive Democratic presidential candidate stated, “What the […]

The media has done its best to goad Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to attack Hillary Clinton. To his credit, Sanders has stuck to his policy differences and has run an issues-oriented campaign. The anti-establishment candidate’s tactics have certainly worked as a majority of voters in the early states of Iowa […]

On Monday, Hillary Clinton said she would not crack down on state and cities with legal marijuana. Speaking at a campaign stop in Luther College, she expressed support for the right of states to implement their own marijuana laws free of federal intervention. This is certainly a moment which advocates […]

Latest CBS News 2016 Battleground Tracker poll has found Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders up 52% to 30% in New Hampshire and 43% to 33% in Iowa against Hillary Clinton. Even polling in South Carolina that has Clinton up 46% 23%  should be troubling for the Democratic frontrunner as she was […]

Breaking on Marijuana Politics: Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley touts his progressive cannabis law reform history in a press release announcing a marijuana legalization listening session in Denver, Colorado, this Thursday. The event will be held at the office of Vicente Sederberg, a law firm that has been instrumental in […]

On the heels of the CNN poll showing that he is just 10 points behind Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in nationally polls, a new Reuters poll has Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders just trailing by 8 points. This is an amazing shift in voter sentiment as Clinton has been handily beating […]

UPDATE: A new Reuters poll shows that the CNN survey is not an outlier, as Reuters has Sanders within single digits. The conventional wisdom was that the the Hillary Clinton campaign machine would steam roll Bernie Sanders and any other Democratic presidential candidate in her path. Pundits thought, and some […]

Clearly, it has become a detriment to support enforcing marijuana prohibition at the federal level, especially when that enforcement means that armed federal agents will be overriding the will of state voters that have passed marijuana measures. Marijuana Majority commissioned polls, conducted by Public Policy Polling, already found that a […]

In a rather shocking development, even for those that have long been supporters and of Bernie Sanders, the latest Qunnipiac poll has the Vermont Senator edging out Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton 41% to 40%. While this poll is clearly within the statistical margin of error, the most amazing development is the huge […]

As Marijuana Politics blogger Romain Bonilla recently posted, Hillary Clinton has strong financial ties to the private prison industry. These ties with the prison-industrial complex, mainly through common lobbyists, have been reported by a few blogs and rightfully make Drug War reformers suspicious of Clinton’s commitment to ending the use of […]

As most Americans have come to realize, the War on Drugs has been a phenomenal disaster. Triggering the arrest of millions of otherwise law-abiding Americans, it has contributed to an unprecedented pattern of mass incarceration, one which unfairly targets the poor and people of color. Despite its success in locking […]

Bernie Sanders has increased his lead on Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire according to the latest NBC/Marist poll. The progressive insurgent candidate that many cannabis law reform advocates have rallied around, has been the target of criticism from Clinton surrogates in recent day. Sanders responded that Clinton’s campaign must be […]

Monmouth University released its first Republican poll following the first presidential candidate debates and the new GOP poll is good news for Donald Trump and other outsiders, bad for news for the establishment candidates. The conventional wisdom immediately following the first Republican debates seemed to be that Donald Trump would […]

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a liberal darling that many wish would have run for president and hope will be the vice-president on the 2016 Democratic ticket, has had one glaring flaw on her resume: she has previously opposed cannabis legalization. Disheartening to many cannabis law reform advocates, Warren opposed marijuana […]

Jeb Bush, the one-time presumed 2016 Republican presidential nominee, has seen better days. His establishment front-runner status was shattered over the summer by the meteoric rise of Donald Trump and, more recently, surging GOP insurgents Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina. After spending the first half of this year raising more […]

Jim Webb, the former Senator from Virginia, may well be the Democratic 2016 candidate of choice for cannabis and drug war reformers. Webb’s candidacy is currently little know and seldom mentioned. This may change if Hilary Clinton’s campaign continues to melt down. Hillary Clinton’s marijuana policy is unclear and certainly […]

As his poll numbers continue to rise in the Republican primary, Donald Trump remains a focus of media attention. Building on his popularity among Republicans, the business magnate multiplies media appearances, giving journalists the opportunity to question him on his political positions on a variety of issues. Most of the […]

Marijuana Majority recently released the group’s first poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling, to question registered voters in Iowa and New Hampshire on whether the federal government should respect state marijuana laws. The poll found that strong majorities of Democrats, Republican and independents want Uncle Sam to stay out of states’ cannabis […]

As it has been written many times now, Bernie Sanders has become the mainstream candidate of many cannabis law reform advocates, especially following his comments about the Drug War ruining lives and the failure of the War on Drugs; his announcing a bill to abolish private prisons; and his openness […]

What do President Barack Obama, right-wing talk king Rush Limbaugh, pop star Miley Cyrus, and most of the 2016 presidential candidates all have in common? You know, beyond the fact that they travel with security and are rich beyond our wildest dreams? They all smoke or have smoked marijuana and […]

Back on May 3rd, I asked, “Will Bernie Sanders Become the Cannabis Candidate?” As regular readers of Marijuana Politics can certainly tell, we are big fans of the Vermont Senator and mainstream presidential candidate, praising his position on cannabis issues and the greater Drug War in post after post. Media […]

Bernie Sanders isn’t done talking about criminal justice reform — in fact, he’s merely getting started. The presidential contender continues to rise in the polls and sensible Drug War reforms will only increase his standing with the Democratic base. Appearing at a campaign rally in Nevada on Tuesday, the Vermont […]