Biden weighs cannabis during a meeting with PA Senate nominee Fetterman

Through Jelena Martinovic

Just days after John Fetterman urged President Joe Biden to remove marijuana from a Schedule I drug and work to decriminalize it, the PA Lieutenant Governor crossed paths with him near Pittsburgh.

According to Marijuana Moment, Fetterman — a passionate cannabis advocate and candidate for the Democratic Senate — and Biden discussed possible changes to the status of cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act before his speech at a union house on Monday. Biden was scheduled to visit Pittsburgh for a separate event Monday during Pittsburgh’s annual Labor Day parade.

Photo by Nate Smallwood/Getty Images

Although details of their conversation were not disclosed, Joe Calvello, Fetterman’s communications director, told Marijuana Moment that Fetterman remained firm on his demands and “remained committed to having the President use his executive powers to initiate the process of rescheduling marijuana, so that people convicted of nonviolent crime can get on with their lives.”

RELATED: John Fetterman urges Biden to legalize weed ahead of Labor Day — this is how POTUS reacted

However, there are indications that the complete “redesign” of cannabis was one of the issues brought up during the discussion. At the same time, a campaign spokesman for Fetterman previously said he plans to speak at the federal level about “the need to finally decriminalize marijuana.”

Will the Biden administration work on marijuana decriminalization?

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news conference last week that she had “nothing to announce at this time” in response to Fetterman’s request that Biden delay cannabis ahead of his visit to Pittsburgh.

Still, she emphasized that Biden “believes there are too many people serving unreasonably long sentences for nonviolent drug crimes, a disproportionate number of whom are black and brown.”

RELATED: Sen. candidate John Fetterman: ‘It’s high time we pulled ourselves together and legalized weed’

Biden granted amnesty to dozens of people with federal nonviolent drug abuse convictions and commuted the sentences of 75 people who were kept at home because of the pandemic earlier this year, nine of whom mentioned cannabis. He also issued three pardons.

Jean-Pierre added that decriminalizing marijuana “is something he spoke about during the campaign, and you’ve heard him many other times speak about his focus on drug policy and what’s important to him Has. We just don’t have anything to talk to.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.