Politics
Democratic Party Prematurely Claims Biden Has ‘Reclassified Marijuana’ And Ended ‘Failed Approach’ To Cannabis
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is playing up the Biden-Harris administration’s marijuana reform platform ahead of the November election—but it’s getting some pushback after suggesting that cannabis has already been rescheduled and that the country’s “failed approach” to marijuana has now ended.
In a post on X earlier this month, DNC said that the administration has “reclassified marijuana,” using a green checkmark emoji to signify that the job is done.
And on Wednesday, the party asserted, along with another checkmark, that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have succeeded in “ending our failed approach to marijuana.”
While Biden did take a meaningful step by directing a review into cannabis scheduling that ultimately led the Justice Department to propose moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), that process is still ongoing—and there are questions about whether it can be completed by the time the next administration takes office.
A public comment period on the proposed rule closed last week after more than 40,000 people weighed in, and now the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will review those submissions, including several requesting an administrative hearing, before potentially finalizing the rule.
The Biden-Harris administration has been working hard for the American people for the last 4 years:
✅ Canceled $168.5 billion in student debt
✅ Lowered prescription drug prices
✅ Cracked down on price gouging by corporations
✅ Reclassified marijuanaAnd so much more.
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) July 22, 2024
The idea that the administration has ended the “failed approach to marijuana” is even more of a stretch considering that, even if cannabis is rescheduled, it would remain federally illegal, maintaining the status quo policy of prohibition.
And while Biden has issued mass pardons for people who’ve committed federal cannabis possession offenses, advocates have been quick to point out that there are still people in federal prison over marijuana-related convictions.
Harris also faced criticism from advocates in February after she similarly claimed that the administration had “changed federal marijuana policy” in a video meant to appeal to young voters.
“It’s great that the DNC is recognizing where the vast majority of Americans stand on cannabis policy reform and raising the visibility of this issue, but cannabis is still very much a Schedule 1 substance and would still be federally criminalized even if it is moved to Schedule 3,” Morgan Fox, political director of NORML, told Marijuana Moment. “This administration has done more than any before it, but people are still being arrested and charged under federal law.”
The Biden-Harris administration has fought for the American people:
✅ Protected marriage for LGBTQI+ and interracial couples
✅ Ending our failed approach to marijuana
✅ The first meaningful gun violence reduction legislation in 30 years
✅ Historic student debt relief— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) July 31, 2024
“If Democrats really want to appeal to voters across the political spectrum, the White House should immediately expand pardon eligibility and start granting clemency to the victims of federal prohibition,” he said. “It should also instruct federal law enforcement agencies to officially deprioritize enforcement against low-level violations and cannabis-related behavior that is legal under state laws.”
Earlier this month, DNC also touted the president’s marijuana pardons and rescheduling moves, while calling for broader reform to expunge prior records, as part of its latest draft platform. However, unlike in 2020, the party declined to promote broader cannabis decriminalization.
While Biden had previously campaigned on decriminalization, he’s been largely silent on the policy since being elected, despite Vice President Kamala Harris calling for broader marijuana legalization in a closed-door roundtable discussion with pardon recipients in March.
Democrats are also hoping to leverage the contrasting marijuana positions of Biden and Trump. DNC’s platform states that the Trump administration “threatened federal prosecution for marijuana cases in states where marijuana was legal” by rescinding Obama-era guidance that generally urged discretion in enforcing prohibition for cannabis-related activity that was legal under state law.
The since-suspended Biden campaign has also played into those differing policy positions, with multiple email blasts and online advertisements that frame the incumbent as the better choice for those who support cannabis reform.
With Harris now the presumptive Democratic nominee after Biden ended his reelection bid, her stance on marijuana policy has come back into focus as well. And in an interview this week, Trump went after Harris over her prosecutorial record on cannabis, claiming that she put “thousands and thousands of Black people in jail” for cannabis offenses—but the full record of her time in office is more nuanced.
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
