A cannabis company in Portland, Oregon is the latest marijuana business to raise money for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Sanders has been the most outspoken in terms of marijuana reform, drawing support from all corners of the industry.
Dispensaries Foster Buds and Glisan Buds, which are owned by the same parent company, are partnering with marijuana grower Farmer 12 for its "Burn One for Bernie" campaign. They're selling special one-gram joints for $10 apiece and will donate 10 percent of sales to the Sanders campaign.
Individual donors can give up to $2,700 to a candidate (although they can give however much they want to super PACs). Each dispensary hopes to donate that sum to help Sanders win the nomination.
"[Sanders] wants to keep the medical program alive for the nation, which is awesome because without the medical program, we wouldn’t be where we are today," Foster Buds manager Ken Martin told KPTV.
Other businesses in the pot industry have also been championing the candidate. Just last week, a Portland-based pipe company announced its "Burners for Bernie" set of ceramic pipes and is donating 10 percent of the proceeds to the Sanders campaign.
While the legality of such efforts are questionable, it's unlikely a campaign would go after their own supporters. Even though Sanders has publicly disavowed super PACs, he can't stop his supporters from setting them up in his favor.
Sanders has proposed legislation to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and has been vocal in his criticism of the drug war. As the most cannabis-friendly candidate in the race, support for him from the marijuana industry will likely continue to grow. He needs it, too—after losing Massachusetts on Super Tuesday, Sanders is short of his delegate target to win the nomination.
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