Bernie Sanders hints at support for legalized pot

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders on Tuesday hinted at support for legalized marijuana, saying police did not focus on arresting people for the drug when he was mayor of Burlington, Vt.

The Vermont senator indicated an openness to legalizing recreational marijuana afternoon during an online question and answer session on Reddit, though he did not explicitly endorse doing so nationwide.

“I can tell you very few people were arrested for smoking marijuana [when I was mayor],” Sanders said. “Our police had more important things to do.”

Sanders, a self-described Socialist who is running for the Democratic nomination, said he supports decriminalizing recreational marijuana in Vermont, and is watching the situation in Colorado “very closely.”

Colorado was one of the first states to legalize both recreational and medical marijuana.

“Colorado has led the effort toward legalizing marijuana and I’m going to watch very closely to see the pluses and minuses of what they have done,” Sanders said. “I will have more to say about this issue within the coming months.”