http://mic.com/articles/118292/millennials-are-with-bernie-sanders-on-almost-every-issue
If someone had told us in 2012 that the favored candidate of millennial voters would be a socialist septuagenarian who wants to "frighten the billionaire class," we'd have told them that we had a bridge in Alaska to sell them. But less than two weeks into his seemingly impossible campaign for the Democratic nomination (his website won't even be fully launched until May 26), self-described "democratic socialist" Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has raised millions of dollars for his run, the vast majority of it from small donors.
Support for the senator's run for the White House isn't just coming from far-left groups like Occupy Wall Street. Millennials are shaking off the stereotype of political disaffection they've been stuck with in support of the long-shot senator — or, at least, in support of his issues. Despite very low levels of trust in the federal government and elected officials (you try growing up under President George W. Bush and graduating into the Great Recession), millennials are more politically engaged in their everyday lives than any previous generation. And on nearly every one of the issues that millennials consider to be the most important, Sanders comes out as the unlikely champion.
on weed:
Despite few opportunities to come out in strong favor of decriminalization on the federal level, Sanders has a long history of progressive votes on drug policy. He's voted against mandatory drug testing of federal employees, as well as against an amendment allowing U.S. military to patrol America's southern border. Even President Barack Obama has made fun of Sanders for being "a pot-smoking socialist."
In a 2014 interview with Time, Sanders indicated that he supported the legalization of medical marijuana, and admitted to having smoked marijuana when he was young. Although he's still skeptical of legalization across the board, Sanders labels the War on Drugs as a "failed policy" that has trapped millions of nonviolent offenders in an endless prison-to-prison pipeline.
This is in keeping with the vast majority of millennials, who support the legalization of marijuana use and possession in droves. According to Pew Research Center, 68% of millennials support the legalization of recreational marijuana nationwide. (Before tossing out the "that's just pothead twenty-somethings" canard, Pew also found that only 52% of millennials have actually tried marijuana, meaning that legalization of recreational pot is more popular than pot itself.)
If someone had told us in 2012 that the favored candidate of millennial voters would be a socialist septuagenarian who wants to "frighten the billionaire class," we'd have told them that we had a bridge in Alaska to sell them. But less than two weeks into his seemingly impossible campaign for the Democratic nomination (his website won't even be fully launched until May 26), self-described "democratic socialist" Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has raised millions of dollars for his run, the vast majority of it from small donors.
Support for the senator's run for the White House isn't just coming from far-left groups like Occupy Wall Street. Millennials are shaking off the stereotype of political disaffection they've been stuck with in support of the long-shot senator — or, at least, in support of his issues. Despite very low levels of trust in the federal government and elected officials (you try growing up under President George W. Bush and graduating into the Great Recession), millennials are more politically engaged in their everyday lives than any previous generation. And on nearly every one of the issues that millennials consider to be the most important, Sanders comes out as the unlikely champion.
on weed:
Despite few opportunities to come out in strong favor of decriminalization on the federal level, Sanders has a long history of progressive votes on drug policy. He's voted against mandatory drug testing of federal employees, as well as against an amendment allowing U.S. military to patrol America's southern border. Even President Barack Obama has made fun of Sanders for being "a pot-smoking socialist."
In a 2014 interview with Time, Sanders indicated that he supported the legalization of medical marijuana, and admitted to having smoked marijuana when he was young. Although he's still skeptical of legalization across the board, Sanders labels the War on Drugs as a "failed policy" that has trapped millions of nonviolent offenders in an endless prison-to-prison pipeline.
This is in keeping with the vast majority of millennials, who support the legalization of marijuana use and possession in droves. According to Pew Research Center, 68% of millennials support the legalization of recreational marijuana nationwide. (Before tossing out the "that's just pothead twenty-somethings" canard, Pew also found that only 52% of millennials have actually tried marijuana, meaning that legalization of recreational pot is more popular than pot itself.)
