What a difference 48 hours makes.

Its been two days since Bernie Sanders, the Democrat from Vermont and the only Presidential candidate with a clearly pro-cannibis slate, shocked the Democratic establishment by taking their flippety-floppity, look-you-straight-in-the-eye-and-tell-you-something-that-you-want-to-hear-instead-of-what-she-believes-candidate to the wire in Iowa before moving onto New Hampshire, where he holds a commanding lead in the polls over Hillary Clinton.

After following both the pathetic Republican primary campaign for Iowa that consisted of a bunch of phony, filthy rich, spoiled, selfish, arrogant, misinformed, racist, dishonest and PAC backed candidates, we have to hear the cry baby antics of a man who would be president threatening to sue the winner, however tainted the win was.

We also have to listen to the equally disturbing Democratic establishment front running candidate who claims to be progressive while never facing up to her own shortcomings and mistakes while also arrogantly proclaiming a victory in Iowa.

Frankly, it makes me want to throw up.

I have also spent the past 48 hours reflecting on the state of the newly established Cannabis Industry and the constant disappointment that I am hearing from many of CBE’s readers about the duplicitous and underhanded individuals and companies that have weaseled their way into the Green Rush by doing whatever it takes to make a buck off the unsuspecting, honest, hard-working individuals who have joined the fray because they believe that we can truly form an honorable industry based on integrity, ingenuity, fair play and a pay it forward and help thy peers attitude.

We see state and local regulators harassing businesses, Governors creating restrictive covenants only to have their mandates thrown out, and overdone compliance issues and tax burdens placed by greedy government coffers on legitimate small companies — only to set the stage for larger, better funded organizations to gobble up the loser’s assets and dreams in distressed sale situations.

We see licensee losers in many states suing to stop legitimate (and not so legitimate) winners being made, and regulators joining the boards of companies they were involved in awarding licenses to.

Even in my sector, the media, there is an undercurrent of duplicity taking place.

Magazines are launching and claiming audited circulation, and worse, advertisers are buying it without knowing that they aren’t getting what they paid for. There is no guarantee that the magazines get into the hands of real buyers (did you know that it takes at least a year to have a clean, audited circulation statement based on actual subscriber records by the two reputable magazine auditing organizations, BPA for business to business publications) and ABC for paid circulation consumer magazines).

As Publisher of Financial World magazine (ABC audited) and Director of Sales and Marketing at HR Magazine (BPA audited), I have worked with both organizations and have yet to see a B-to-B publication in the Cannabis Industry that claims to have been audited by either.

But I digress.

Over the past 48 hours, I have come to the conclusion that we need to stick to our guns and believe that there are a lot more smart, honorable, progressive and well-meaning business people who are committed to building the next great industry in the greatest country on earth, a country where integrity, innovation, good ideas and fairness mean something, and where equal opportunity is just instead of a rigged game run by the few instead of benefiting the many.

This doesn’t mean that competition isn’t a good thing, it just means that fair competition and rules designed by all of the stakeholders should be favored and encouraged instead of petty power grubbing. my-way-or-the-highway mandates made by a controlling few.

For this reason, CBE is feeling the “Bern” and we are whole-heartily endorsing Bernie Sanders to be the next President of the United States.

He is the only candidate that we trust that will do the right thing and take responsibility at the federal level, totally de-scheduling cannabis and finally ending the War on Drugs. He is the only candidate, that will fight for all Americans and address the income and other inequalities that have developed in this country over the years.

Sanders will fight for the U.S. to do its part to help save the world from the disastrous path we are on with global warming and destructive social and economic policies worldwide to insure that our children and their children will grow up in a world worth living in.

And, quite frankly, he is the only candidate that we think will look a person in the eye and tell them what he truly believes, the only real progressive with the guts, vision, true grit, integrity, compassion, passion and non-self serving motivation of all of the current candidates — the only one with the experience and wisdom to deserve our vote.

So join us and feel the Bern as you legally light one up and fight to build our industry the way that Bernie will lead this country.