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Cannabis Connection
On the campaign trail, Joe Biden was the only Democratic candidate who refused to support the federal legalization of marijuana, but he did support decriminalization. His now-vice president, Kamala Harris, was a proponent of full legalization, and she admitted to using marijuana in the past. This led to an overall optimistic expectation of how Biden’s White House would handle cannabis cases—and subsequently to the surprise of several White House staffers fired for past marijuana use.
Despite marijuana use being legal in Washington, D.C., marijuana is federally illegal, yet Biden did promise to adopt a more flexible policy. Despite this, five people were summarily fired in March 2021 for marijuana use. They were not the only ones: The Daily Beast, which broke the news, revealed that “dozens” of staffers and applicants to the new Biden administration were punished for disclosing past marijuana consumption during the interview process—many were sidelined, suspended or even assigned to remote locations to be kept away from the president.
In response to this news, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced that the new administration established policies “to ensure that past marijuana use wouldn’t automatically disqualify staff from serving in the White House,” insisting that “only” five staffers were indeed fired for past substance use. The White House did not deny that measures other than firings were employed to punish cannabis consumption among employees.
A candidate’s personal drug use history, with the exception of past convictions, relies on the candidate’s honesty to proactively disclose it. The staffers who were punished for marijuana use had all revealed that information following the White House’s promise that it would not be used against them, which was then betrayed. A central point of contention has been the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris herself has a well-documented, self-confessed history of marijuana use, giving the image of an administration that will apply a different set of rules for regular people and for elected officials. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has also admitted to using marijuana, but he will not see consequences for it.
“We still have a very uneven response” to marijuana in the White House, said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. He added that this is an “antiquated response” and shows that Biden’s White House is “out of touch” regarding marijuana policies. He hopes this will be “a thing of the past very soon.” Blumenauer led an action to denounce Joe Biden’s failure to live up to expectations regarding unfair marijuana policies.
“Those in the upper ranks of your administration won’t face consequences for their cannabis use, and nor should they, but the same standard should be applied across the administration,” reads the letter, which was signed by 30 congresspeople. “Repercussions for cannabis use have always been unequal and those with the most power have always faced the fewest consequences. We ask that you don’t allow that pattern to continue within your administration.”
Failing to Live Up to Campaign Promises
Leading up to the inauguration, hopes were high among the cannabis community that not only would Biden allow marijuana reform simply because it is exceedingly popular, but also that Harris would influence the president to adopt a more sensible and modern view on minor drug offenses. The opposite seems to have happened, with Harris instead walking back some of her more progressive statements on marijuana. According to Bloomberg, Harris’ position on marijuana is now “the same as Biden’s,” which does not include any form of legalization. This came as Jen Psaki confirmed that Biden’s opposition to the legalization of marijuana remains unchanged.
Despite the promise to make cannabis reform a priority, especially to facilitate the expungement of hundreds of thousands of individual records and release thousands of nonviolent prisoners, Harris stated that marijuana has taken a back seat because there are more pressing priorities. This goes against her personal pledge to pass cannabis reforms as part of COVID-19 relief efforts when Donald Trump was still in the White House.
At the time, the Democratic establishment rallied behind the idea that marijuana reform should be part of the government’s COVID response, as legal weed would help raise funds through taxation; legal banking for pot businesses would greatly alleviate the need for in-person contact with customers; and it would significantly reduce interactions between the police and low-income public. This stance has seemingly been abandoned entirely. “Honestly, right now, we’ve been focused on getting people food, helping them stay in their apartments or in their homes, getting kids back to school, getting shots into arms,” Harris said. “That has been all-consuming.”
One aspect of Biden’s plan is to reschedule marijuana, moving it out of Schedule I—which is reserved to highly dangerous drugs like heroin, and where cannabis is mistakenly classified—and into Schedule II. Cannabis advocates have decried this decision, as Schedule II drugs are still violently repressed and highly illegal. Cocaine, crystal meth and opium are all Schedule II drugs, meaning that the White House would treat marijuana as if it were as dangerous and addictive as crystal meth.
This scheduling promise comes with another caveat: Biden promised that on the campaign trail that “nobody should be in prison for marijuana,” a promise that cannot be fulfilled if marijuana is kept highly illegal on the federal level. When questioned about the promise made by the president to offer mass clemency to nonviolent marijuana offenders currently in prison, Psaki lied twice about the potential for mass expungements in an America where cannabis is still an illegal Schedule II drug, claiming that it “moves things forward,” which it does not.
Outside of the White House, the effervescence surrounding cannabis reform has not died down. Congressional Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have dedicated themselves to passing marijuana laws with or without the president’s approval. If Biden had demonstrated willingness to simply be passive on the topic and sign cannabis bills approved by a Democratic Congress, there would be high hopes to see significant reform in the immediate future.
However, Biden won’t say whether he will sign or veto such a bill if it comes to his desk. When questioned on the topic, his press secretary dodged the question, indicating that Biden’s stance is at odds with what the majority of Americans and Democratic lawmakers have been supporting. When asked whether the president would allow federal legalization if Sen. Schumer’s legalization bill were to be approved by Congress, the White House press secretary stated that “the president supports leaving decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states,” which does not sound good for people hoping that a Biden administration would finally end Prohibition.
