John Fetterman urges Biden to legalize cannabis

John Fetterman, the current US Senate nominee, wants to hold President Joe Biden accountable for one of his key campaign promises – cannabis reform.

Fetterman, a big cannabis advocate, claims that if elected to the Senate, he will continue to push for cannabis reform. Before that, however, he wants to appeal directly to the president at a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh on September 5 when he marches with the president.

“It’s about time we finally decriminalized marijuana,” Fetterman said in a press release Monday. “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.”

Fetterman’s campaign spokesman says he plans to address these issues at the parade when they march together. According to their statement, “The Lieutenant Governor looks forward to speaking with the President there about the need to finally decriminalize marijuana.”

Biden has yet to deliver on those campaign promises on cannabis. He made his first comments on the subject since taking office last month when pressed on the subject, eventually speaking about people jailed for nonviolent cannabis crimes. He claimed his government was “working on” that pledge and mentioned that a crime bill could be in the works to address the issue.

Fetterman isn’t the only person pushing Biden so directly. Six senators — including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) — sent a letter to Biden in July asking for action to be taken Mercy may accrue to federal cannabis prisoners of conscience.

The letter claimed that the government is “harming thousands of Americans, slowing research, and depriving Americans of the ability to use marijuana for medical or other purposes.”

Back in Pennsylvania, recent polls put Fetterman ahead of his Republican opponent, health TV personality Mehmet Oz, better known as Dr. Oz. Both Oz and the Republican National Committee have targeted the Democratic nominee for his record of cannabis and drug policy reform, though polls show most of Pennsylvania supports Fetterman’s positions on legalization and harm reduction.

He competed against the more conservative Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania for Senate Square and has been very open about his support for legal cannabis and drug reform. He has commented that he sees the success of cannabis sales in nearby New Jersey and wishes the same for his home state of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, he sees that people from his state and others are still in prison for cannabis.

One of his goals in his current role is to ensure that many eligible individuals receive pardons, and he serves on the Pennsylvania Parolees Board. He would like the courts to erase cannabis arrests from the record and restore opportunities such as housing, student aid and employment.

Fetterman spoke positively as Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) advocated marijuana legalization and led a statewide audio tour to talk about cannabis and the feelings of the state’s residents. He says he is committed to the work needed to “legalize weed for jobs, the judiciary, veterans, farmers and revenue,” according to a donation email earlier this year.

He is also known for boasting about Pennsylvania cannabis farmers, claiming they could grow better cannabis than the people of New Jersey, to ignite the fire for cannabis reform. In 2020 he also hosted a virtual forum to seek advice from rule of law on state legalization.

It’s not clear how his message will be received at the parade, but on behalf of the country’s cannabis advocates, we wish Fetterman the best of luck!