Democrats urge Biden on marijuana reform ahead of midterms

As the midterms draw closer, Democrats believe they have a window to advance their marijuana reform agenda.

According to The Hill, Democrats are pressuring Biden and trying to figure out what’s possible in terms of marijuana reform ahead of November’s midterms. They believe the momentum gained from Biden’s past liberal decisions — student loans, health care and tax reforms — could have a positive impact on marijuana decriminalization.

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“Now that the President has implemented progressive student debt relief policies, he’s seen the polls surge, he’s united the grassroots, put Republicans on the defensive, and Democrats across the country seem to be on the wave too horse riding. said influential Iowa Democrat Stacey Walker. “We, along with several members of President Biden’s leadership team, all agreed that the President should at least decriminalize marijuana and reschedule it through executive action at the federal level.”

In recent weeks, other Democrats have echoed those statements, focusing on the benefits this decision could have for the millions of people who have been adversely affected by marijuana legislation in the past.

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Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman publicly urged Biden to take action. “It’s about time we finally decriminalized marijuana,” Fetterman said. “The President needs to use his executive powers to begin de-scheduling marijuana, I would love for him to do that before his visit to Pittsburgh. This is just common sense and Pennsylvanians are overwhelmingly supportive of decriminalizing marijuana.”

A group of Democrats, including Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren and others, sent a letter to Biden asking the president to remove the drug from the federally controlled substances list. “I think Biden understands the bigger issues at play here and that encourages me,” Booker said.

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Marijuana legislation has made great strides over the past decade, with dozens of states decriminalizing and mainstreaming recreational and medical markets. The American public is also supportive of marijuana, with polls showing that the majority of people believe in the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana.