Biden Blazes Federal Drug Policy, Sparks Change With Blunt Talk About Marijuana Laws

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(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

This afternoon, President Joe Biden announced that he would be pardoning anyone with a federal conviction for simple marijuana possession in an attempt to right the nation’s “failed” drug policy and that he urges America’s governors to follow suit.

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Second: I’m calling on governors to pardon simple state marijuana possession offenses. Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely for possessing marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either.

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 6, 2022

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The president called on Attorney General Merrick Garland and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to conduct an expedited review of marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision.

Pretending that marijuana is as dangerous and addictive as heroin, and more dangerous and addictive than fentanyl, was always ridiculous. And, as Biden noted in his official announcement, “while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.”

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Getting rid of “I smelled pot” as the justification for cops to search any house or car they like without a warrant will have a massive impact on the way communities of color are policed, although the number of people charged federally for simple marijuana possession is vanishingly small — only 92 people out of almost 20,000 drug convictions in 2017, according to the New York Times. And removing marijuana from Schedule I would make it much easier for cannabis-related businesses to get banking and financial services.

The move is sure to be popular with younger voters, of whom 70 percent support legalizing cannabis for recreational use, although legalization is broadly popular among Americans generally. Indeed, marijuana is more or less legal in half the states, so it makes sense to harmonize federal policy with state laws.

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So will Senator Lindsey Graham lead the charge to “Leeroy Jenkins” it the way he did with abortion, perhaps demanding an up-or-down vote on a law imposing the death penalty for drug dealers? Will a coalition of Republican governors continue their winning streak in the Fifth Circuit demanding that Biden continue to lock up those dangerous reefer heads and throw away the key?

Tricking Republicans into launching a war on marijuana would be some major Dark Brandon energy three weeks before the midterms. But since the Republican platform appears to consist of nothing more than opposing everything coming out of the White House, that’s probably exactly what’s about to shake out.

“Sending people to jail for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives – for conduct that is legal in many states,” Biden concluded his announcement. “That’s before you address the clear racial disparities around prosecution and conviction. Today, we begin to right these wrongs.”

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Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

Topics

Crime, Drugs, Government, Joe Biden, Marijuana