In a terse response to news Thursday that President Donald Trump's Justice Department would rescind its hands-off policy regarding states that have legalized medical and recreational marijuana, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) scolded Attorney General Jeff Sessions for equating the dangers of pot with heroin.

During his time in the U.S. Senate and as AG, Sessions has repeatedly assailed marijuana as comparable to much harder drugs like heroin, though scientific experts have called that nonsense.

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"No, Attorney General Sessions," Sanders said in his Thursday statement. "Marijuana is not the same as heroin."

He continued, "No one who has seriously studied the issue believes that marijuana should be classified as a Schedule 1 drug beside killer drugs like heroin. Quite the contrary. We should allow states the right to move toward the decriminalization of marijuana, not reverse the progress that has been made in recent years."