During the Democratic debate on October 13, Bernie Sanders had a misunderstanding of the facts when he suggested people go to prison for smoking a joint. A few days ago, Dan Riffle, a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project, admitted on Twitter that people don’t go to jail just for that reason. However, over the last five years, the marijuana advocates have aggressively promoted the misconception that people are arrested and go to prison for pot possession alone.

If we want to prevent incarceration we need to prevent drug usage.  Misconceptions, like the one Sanders was endorsing, has fed a movement to empty federal prisons, because people have been given the wrong impression that drug abuse is a victimless crime.  The term “non-violent drug offenders” is an alternative way of referring to drug dealers, not a person caught with a joint. Continue reading Sanders Doesn’t Fully Understand Drug Use and Incarceration →