The Democratic Party is one step closer to endorsing legalization.
The Democratic National Convention currently is figuring out its platform, or policy goals, ahead of this November's elections.
Over the weekend, some raucous politicking led to the inclusion of legalization in the draft version of this year's platform. The final platform will have to be approved at the party's convention in Philadelphia this month – but this is a noteworthy concession and may point to marijuana as an election issue.
Here's how it happened.
During the Democratic platform committee meeting in Orlando on Saturday, a bid to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act resulted, instead, in a proposed amendment to reduce federal restrictions on the drug and promote a “pathway to future legalization.”
The Washington Post reports that the Sanders campaign led the way toward the amendment, with delegates arguing for state-by-state legalization, policies to allow for more research on the drug and legal reform in favor of legitimate marijuana businesses.
A delegate for Bernie Sanders, David King, originally championed a broader effort to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act entirely. It failed because committee members feared it would undermine states’ rights to research legalization.
The committee came to an agreement on the new language, originally from a different amendment. It passed 81-80.
Multimedia business & healthcare reporter Chloe Aiello can be reached via email at [email protected] or twitter.com/chlobo_ilo.
Subscribe to Denverite’s newsletter here.
