Though the Biden administration has launched multiple actions to address marijuana’s overcriminalization, those moves are either unfinished or limited by what the president can do.
Federal pardons for simple possession don’t address state-level convictions, and recommendations to reschedule marijuana down from Schedule I to Schedule III are still under consideration by regulators.
The current situation is leaving marijuana reform advocates and progressives wanting more.
Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies at the Marijuana Policy Project, told The Hill rescheduling would be better than the “status quo” but still “vastly less than what we need from the federal government and where the public at large is.”
“It’s a popular issue that’s up for grabs for whatever candidate is willing to listen to the people on it,” she argued.
Marijuana reform is widely popular across the political spectrum, making it one that Biden could tap into for some added support, advocates and strategists say.
“You can definitely run on, ‘I am the one who ordered the [Drug Enforcement Administration] and the Department of Justice to reclassify it,” Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster and strategist who serves as president of Lake Research Partners, told The Hill.
“It’s a really strong issue with some constituencies that Democrats really need to increase their support and enthusiasm, specifically young people, African Americans, Democratic base voters, people of color, young men of color,” Lake noted.
The DEA had no update to share on its evaluation when reached for comment. A White House spokesperson told The Hill in a statement that Biden’s “campaign commitment was to do what he can to ensure that no one is in jail for marijuana possession alone. And he’s taken historic actions to achieve that.”
