Bernie Sanders introduces a bill aiming to legalize marijuana nationally

Sanders’s bill calls for marijuana to be removed from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s schedule of controlled substances.

Democratic presidential candidate and Independent Vermont Sen.

Though Sanders proposal comes on the heels of the Ohio vote against legalizing pot, pro-marijuana activists say the Ohio measure split their community because of the way it licensed growers.

Sanders’ competitors in the presidential election have been a little more wary of taking a firm stance on marijuana reform.

The “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2015” strikes all references to marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act, but retains penalties for transporting marijuana from states or jurisdictions where it is legal to those where it is not. If passed, states would be allowed to determine whether to legalize pot for either medical or recreational use with no federal government intervention.

There are limits to the bill, however. As the law stands now, even carrying a small amount of marijuana and being prosecuted for that can impact a person’s ability to have a job, gain government assistance, and even to obtain housing.

Sanders’ proposed bill would make marijuana more akin to alcohol.

Sanders’ bill has a few unlikely support in the Senate, including former presidential candidate Senator John McCain. It is the fourth marijuana policy reform bill to ever be introduced in the Senate, and it is the first that proposes ending marijuana prohibition at the federal level.

Under Sanders’ plan, marijuana would not automatically become legal. Instead, Sanders told The Daily Beast that he strongly believes that opiates are much more unsafe than marijuana and a true “gateway drug”.

Thus far, four states – Colorado, Washington Oregon and Alaska – have legalized recreational marijuana. It doesn’t force any states to legalize that aren’t ready to, but rather opens the doors for any states that do want to legalize. In his view, addiction to any drug should be treated as an illness, and not a crime.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, has said she wants to see how legalization plays out in states like Colorado and Washington before pushing any changes at the federal level. “We need to do a lot better job in terms of prevention”.