Bernie Sanders Not Giving Up On Michigan, Though He Did Quit Marijuana After Coughing Fits

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) On primary day in Michigan, the latest polls show Hillary Clinton with a big lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. But Sanders tells WWJ Newsradio 950 in Detroit, he isn't ready to throw in the towel here in Michigan or anywhere else.

Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver called Michigan "a critical showdown."

"If there is a large voter turnout of young people and working people, come out and demand that we have a government that represents all of us and not just the 1 percent wealthy campaign contributors and people are willing to stand up and fight for social justice and economic justice, I think we're going to do just fine today in Michigan," he told WWJ's Greg Bowman.

Would Sanders have any interest in being Hillary Clinton's running mate if he doesn't win his party's nod? He's not saying, but he has been harshly attacking his Democratic challenger for president.

A recent poll showed Clinton ahead of him by 13 points.

"Well, right now, my interest, as you indicated, is winning the nomination," he said.

Sanders also says despite what Hillary Clinton claims in her campaign ads, he has always supported the auto industry and voted for the bailout.

What he doesn't support is federal mandates about marijuana, saying you can argue "the pluses and minuses of marijuana," but indicating it's not a federal issue. "It's certainly not a killer drug like heroin," he said. "The decision to whether to legalize marijuana is a state issue. But I do not believe possession of marijuana should be a federal crime."

Has he ever smoked pot?

"When I was a young man I smoked marijuana twice and the result was I had a coughing fits. I coughed a whole lot, that was my response to marijuana. About 30 years ago, maybe more than that, I smoked marijuana. It didn't do much for me, but my understanding is that other people respond differently to marijuana."

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