Vermont Senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders put forward a policy Wednesday to take marijuana off the Drug Enforcement Administration’s schedule of controlled substances—a move that would prohibit federal authorities from cracking down on pot users and suppliers, and pave the way for states to regulate the substance like alcohol or tobacco.
While other candidates in the race, including Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, have called for marijuana to be reclassified from its current status as a schedule 1 drug—the most dangerous according to the DEA—Sanders is the first to call for the plant to be removed from DEA’s schedules altogether.
“In the year 2015, it is time for the federal government to allow states to go forward as they best choose,” the Democratic Socialist said during a college town hall meeting at George Mason University Wednesday. The event was livestreamed to 300 campuses across the nation.
“Too many Americans have seen their lives destroyed because they have criminal records as a result of marijuana use,” Sanders added. “That’s wrong. That has got to change.”
The proposal would also address the financial and legal limbo that marijuana suppliers find themselves in when complying with state laws, by allowing them to access federally-charted banking institutions and federal business tax deductions.
Sen. Sanders’ chief rival in the presidential contest, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has previously come out in support of medicinal marijuana. She, however, said she was still against legalizing pot for recreational purposes as Colorado and Washington state have done in the last few years.
