Why doesn’t President Biden just scrap cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, senators want to know?

Senators urge Biden to postpone marijuana

Did Biden lie to us about marijuana the entire campaign?

For many who thought President Joe Biden would help reschedule marijuana, the one thing we’ve been waiting for years, we seem to have thought wrong.

Did he lie to us when he promised to decriminalize marijuana and automatically overturn previous marijuana convictions while campaigning in 2020?

In fact, Biden’s lack of effort on marijuana legalization was so disappointing that senators had to point it out to him earlier this month. Six U.S. senators wrote a letter to POTUS asking for two motions: first, that the attorney general work to finally get marijuana removed from the controlled substances law, and second, that the president use his power to intimidate people to help those charged with non-violent marijuana crimes.

It was signed by Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey, Ron Wyden and Kirsten Gillibrand. They added that it took the Department of Justice (DOJ) a full six months to respond to a letter sent in October 2021, urging the attorney general to take the necessary steps to move marijuana federally. They said the DOJ’s response was “extremely disappointing.”

“It is evident that cannabis has widely accepted medicinal benefits that are endorsed by medical and scientific communities here and around the world,” the letter reads. “The therapeutic properties of cannabis, caused by the effects of the two components tetrahydrocannabinol-alpha (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), make it an excellent alternative to highly addictive opiates for pain relief,” it says.

“The government’s failure to coordinate a timely review of its cannabis policy harms thousands of Americans, slows research, and deprives Americans of their ability to use marijuana for medicinal or other purposes,” the senators said in the letter.

“We call on the Biden administration to act quickly to right this decades-long injustice that has been hurting individuals, particularly black and brown communities,” the senators added.

Then on July 16, during a White House news briefing, the President was asked by a reporter if he would fulfill his campaign promise to release marijuana prisoners, which he has the authority to do in federal prisons but not in state prisons. He responded with, “I don’t think anyone should go to jail for using marijuana. We’re working on the crime bill now,” although it’s unclear what on earth he was talking about.

As U.S. President, he has executive authority to pardon any federal crime, requiring no bill or vote of Congress.

So why doesn’t he act on it? All he has to do is sign.

“Our country’s cannabis policy needs a complete overhaul, but you have the power to act now: you can and should issue a blanket pardon for all federal nonviolent cannabis offenses, fulfill your promises to the American people, and transform the lives of dozens of people Thousands of Americans,” the senators wrote in the letter.

“As a presidential candidate, you have argued that ‘we should decriminalize marijuana,’ and ‘anyone with a marijuana record should be released from prison, have their records wiped and completely zeroed,'” they continue in the letter. “The first and easiest step in this process is a blanket pardon. The Constitution grants you the power to pardon broad layers of Americans to right widespread wrongs, as previous presidents have done.”

The sad reality is that since taking office, the President has taken too few steps to fulfill his campaign promises.

What about Schumer’s Bill?

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a bill; known as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, it would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level while giving states the freedom to make their own marijuana laws without worrying about federal penalties from the government.

Senators Schumer, along with Ron Wyden and Cory Booker, worked on this bill over a year ago, although it still has to pass the Senate. The likelihood of it passing is slim at best, although the good news is that this bill may influence discussions about legalizing marijuana in the near future. In addition, some parts of the bill may even be adopted by other bills that have a higher chance of being passed before the end of the year.

The bill will also help overturn state marijuana convictions while creating a fund law enforcement agencies can use to prevent illegal cannabis cultivation. Grant programs are being established to help small marijuana entrepreneurs who are new to the industry and come from communities disproportionately affected by drug laws. In addition, the bill mandates the Department of Transportation to create a statewide standard for testing marijuana-related impairments while minimizing the marketing of marijuana to minors.

So far, only Schumer has campaigned for legalization of marijuana in Washington. He’s clearly made it a priority over the last 2 years, even though marijuana legalization has spread rapidly across the United States and the government isn’t giving it the time it deserves.

Conclusion

Disappointing is an understatement when it comes to describing Biden’s efforts — or lack thereof — to legalize marijuana. We’ll have to wait and see if the government suddenly prioritizes convictions and legalization of marijuana in the coming months. Don’t get your hopes up: thanks to the work of the senators, the administration will also be held accountable and monitored for their campaign promises.

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