Among professional cannabis pundits, I can safely say that my lack of support for the presidential candidacy of Bernie Sanders puts me in the minority. Among cannabis users who plan on voting, overall I think I’m in the minority as well, although that is harder to get a gauge on.
Bernie brings a lot to the table as far as “stoners” are concerned: he talks about criminal justice reform, completely taking cannabis off the list of scheduled drugs in the Federal Controlled Substances Act, and about how minorities are punished at much greater than rates than whites when it comes to cannabis arrests, despite the fact that usage among the races is relatively equal. He also wants to give away a bunch of “free” stuff to millennials, which means more money for weed! But most of all, for cannabis users who identify as Democrats, Bernie is the anti-Hillary.
Like she is in many groups, Clinton is detested in the cannabis community, which is difficult for a “progressive” to accomplish. She is seen as someone who will sell her stance on cannabis law reform (weak as it is already) to the highest bidder, which pushes marijuana users even more firmly toward Bernie.
Add onto all of this some endorsements for Bernie from stoned celebrities like Tommy Chong, Susan Sarandon, and Sarah Silverman, and you’re only missing one final piece: A ceramic piece to smoke weed in while you support Bernie!
I’m sorry, did I say smoke weed? I meant tobacco. These products are for tobacco use only, so don’t even think about smoking weed in them you hippies!
Alas, behold: #BernOneForBernie. It’s a ceramic pipe that proclaims your love for Bernie and burning (the first syllable of his name sounds like “burn”; the rest really writes itself). Apparently some of the proceeds go to the Bernie Sanders campaign, so I obviously won’t be buying one, but if sales are brisk I would not be surprised.
The jury is still out on whether the effort will be helpful or hurtful to the Sanders campaign, but personally, I fail to see how it could hurt. On one hand, the people who are totally against marijuana use are not going to come out in droves for Bernie only to have this pipe make them angry or drive them into the arms of another candidate. On the other hand, from the view of the Sanders campaign, something like this can only serve to energize young progressives and democratic socialists in their effort to bring down the Clinton machine.
In the end, although I would have to have a loaded pistol to my head to vote for Bernie Sanders, I would be lying if I didn’t admit watching Hillary squirm under the hot lights of another possible defeat in her quest for the White House makes me smile just a little.
Or maybe that’s just the weed tobacco I just smoked.
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