In an unexpected victory for supporters of Bernie Sanders, the full Democratic Party platform committee on Saturday approved plank that calls for marijuana to be removed from the list of Class 1 controlled substances, thus “providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization.” The approved plank is, perhaps, even more favorable to legalization advocates than the Sanders plan that was rejected by the platform drafting committee in late June.

The draft platform language read:

We believe that the states should be laboratories of democracy on the issue of marijuana, and those states that want to decriminalize marijuana should be able to do so. We support policies that will allow more research on marijuana, as well as reforming our laws to allow legal marijuana businesses to exist without uncertainty. And we recognize our current marijuana laws have had an unacceptable disparate impact, with arrest rates for marijuana possession among African Americans far outstripping arrest rates among whites, despite similar usage rates.

In the drafting committee, Sanders delegates proposed this language:

We will refocus our drug policy by removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and allowing states to set their own policies.

As approved Saturday the plank now reads:

Because of conflicting laws concerning marijuana, both on the federal and state levels, we encourage the federal government to remove marijuana from its list as a Class 1 Federal Controlled Substance, providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization.

The adopted plank’s call for a federal pathway to full legalization goes a full step further than Sanders’s original proposal that allowed states to make their own marijuana laws.

The Washington Post has the story on how this happened. It reminds us of the famous quote from Will Rogers: “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.”

Feds Nearing a Decision on Whether Pot Has Medical Potential

When President Richard Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, the federal government put marijuana in the category of the nation’s most dangerous drugs, along with LSD, heroin and mescaline.

In legal parlance, pot is a Schedule 1 drug, with a high potential for abuse and no medical purpose.

Forty-six years later, the law might soon change, as the Obama administration prepares to make what could be its biggest decision yet on marijuana.

Suspense is mounting after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration missed its self-imposed June 30 deadline to decide whether to reschedule the drug and recognize its potential therapeutic value. Twenty-six states already have legalized its medical use.

Read more at The Kansas City Star.

Governor, Boston Mayor Kick Off Campaign Against Marijuana Legalization

Two political sides came together Friday to oppose a ballot question that seeks to legalize recreational marijuana in the state of Massachusetts, with top state leaders from across the political spectrum and branches of government joining together.

A kickoff press conference for the “Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts” was held Friday, two days after a ballot initiative to legalize the drug submitted sufficient signatures to make it onto this November’s ballot.

The choice of venue for Friday’s press conference, at the William J. Ostiguy Recovery High School in Boston, underscores the crux of the group’s opposition: that legal, recreational marijuana could serve as a gateway to drug abuse and addiction for young people.

“This question is a reminder of calls from parents who are terrified of what is happening to their teenage child who is using marijuana,” Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said, pointing to his own experience as a recovering alcoholic.

He warned against the potential appeal to and danger for children posed by candy- and pastry-like marijuana edibles.

Read more at Patch.com.

Washington’s Total Recreational Marijuana Sales Pass $1 Billion

Well, Washington (and tourists and neighbors from border states), you’ve gone and consumed more than $1 billion worth of marijuana since the legal market began in July 2014.

So far, the great destruction of our society has not occurred … or if it is ongoing, it’s slow and sneaky. What has happened, however, is that more than $250 million has been generated in excise tax to the state.

And, the trend is grow grow grow: The highest total monthly sales figure was $86.7 million and that was in June. So, the growth in our nascent legal cannabis market continues its month-over-month increase.

Read more at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

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After Medical Marijuana Legalized, Medicare Prescriptions Drop for Many Drugs

Prescription drug prices continue to climb, putting the pinch on consumers. Some older Americans appear to be seeking an alternative to mainstream medicines that has become easier to get legally in many parts of the country.

Research published Wednesday found that states that legalized medical marijuana — which is sometimes recommended for symptoms like chronic pain, anxiety or depression — saw declines in the number of Medicare prescriptions for drugs used to treat those conditions and a dip in spending by Medicare Part D, which covers the cost on prescription medications.

Because the prescriptions for drugs like opioid painkillers and antidepressants — and associated Medicare spending on those drugs — fell in states where marijuana could feasibly be used as a replacement, the researchers said it appears likely legalization led to a drop in prescriptions. That point, they said, is strengthened because prescriptions didn’t drop for medicines such as blood-thinners, for which marijuana isn’t an alternative.

Read more at NPR.org.

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