Bernie Sanders not Receiving Donations from Cannabis Supporters

There is one thing in the 2016 elections that candidates have made sure to touch upon, some for, some against. That thing is cannabis. Up to this point in the United States presidential race, the leaders of the cannabis activists surprisingly have not been “feeling the Bern,” the unofficial slogan of Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. For instance, last summer, when Republican candidate Senator Rand Paul from Kentucky had a fundraising event at the Cannabis Business Summit in Denver, Colorado, cannabis activists were desperately supporting his campaign.

When added all together, the members and political action committees (PACs) of the cannabis organizations: “ Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, (NORML) and National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA)” donated just over $24,5000 to Paul, who is one of the supporters of the Carers Act, which saves medical marijuana from federal intervention. In addition to this, the senator also supports many other legislations based on cannabis reform. As of right now, Rand Paul is out of the presidential race, and only one other candidate seems to support cannabis even more than he has: Bernie Sanders. In October, Sanders stated that he would like to end completely the federal ban on cannabis.

“There is no comparison to presidential candidates other than Libertarians or Green Party candidates to what Bernie has done [on marijuana] in his candidacy,” NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said.

But as of right now, Sanders has not had anywhere near the same amount of donations that Paul received from cannabis organizations. Federal Election Commission records indicated that Sanders has only taken $1,000 from a multitude of cannabis organizations and their board members by the end of 2015. Also, as MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia announced on Facebook last spring that the organization had been supporting Paul in the GOP primary elections, there has been no announcement for the support of Sanders.