Like the commie he is, Bernie Sanders likes coercion.  His latest coercive scheme is his new proposed law to punish states that resist marijuana legalization.

So much for laboratory of the states, which is the idea that each state should be free to do what its voters want and let the results speak for themselves.  Bernie doesn't like the laboratory of the states; he's all in for central planning, same as was done by the Soviet Moscow of his honeymoon.

Here's Bernie's new scheme, as reported by Forbes:

Several potential rival presidential candidates are teaming up on legislation to end the federal war on marijuana.  On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is signing on as a co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act, introduced last year by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).

Many political observers expect that Booker and Sanders will compete for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.  Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), another rumored contender, is also a co-sponsor of the bill.

Although the three senators may be just months away from the start of a hard-fought political nominating contest, they are linking arms in support of the most far-reaching cannabis reform bill ever to have been filed in Congress.

What's infuriating about this is that it foists punishment on states that just don't want pot creating problems in their communities, while doing zero to take responsibility for the inevitable bad side-effects of pot use.  States should be free to decide whether not having to bust techies and hipsters and hippies outweighs the cost of medical rehab; the specter of pot left lying around on the playgrounds; toddlers who accidentally ingest being rushed to emergency rooms; highways getting more hazardous because of increased DUI; gateway drug risks going up, meaning more addicts; the effect of secondhand pot smoke on babies as pot smoke drifts into their apartments; and the schizophrenia risks to some young men who toke up, which costs the state big as the white-coats are called to move in.  There's also the inevitable homelessness and broken up families derived from pot use whose costs are harder to calculate.  States are to be forced to pick up the tab for all those little pot plagues if Bernie gets his way.  He's never been big on anyone in government paying attention to costs.

Forbes notes that the bill is highly connected to the next presidential race, with multiple potential Democratic candidates joining the sponsorship as they focus on winning the youth vote.

But the bill also highlights something else going on: pot is getting politically powerful.  A bill like this shows that live-and-let-live among the pro-pot and anti-pot states is never going to satisfy the left.  It's not enough to let each state decide; pot must be affirmed as a positive thing, regardless of its societal side-effects.

Pot-manufacturers whine that they lack advertising and banking opportunities, limited because federal law still prohibits marijuana use and these institutions don't want to get crosswise with the feds.  But even there, they enjoy privileges.  In advertising, for instance, pot-sellers are free to advertise their wares on billboards, while cigarette-manufacturers are not.  Cigarettes are more risky than pot?  Don't think so.  What we are seeing is a powerful political lobby.

Bernie is riding that wave, anxious to scoop up more youth votes.  Color me unimpressed.