Biden touts moves to loosen federal Weed restrictions
A prior executive order directed federal agencies to reevaluate the drug’s classification.
President Joe Biden reiterated that nobody should go to prison for cannabis use, and touted his administration’s moves to evaluate whether federal marijuana restrictions should be loosened.
“Keep building trust, as I’ve been doing by taking executive action on police reform, and calling for it to be the law of the land, directing my cabinet to review the federal classification of marijuana, and expunging thousands of convictions for the mere possession, because no one should be jailed for simply using.”
Both of these actions date back to two executive orders issued by Biden in October 2022. In those executive orders, Biden pardoned some people with nonviolent federal marijuana records, and he asked the Department of Health and Human Services to scrutinize the available science about cannabis and recommend if it should be moved to a different schedule under the Controlled Substances Act.
Cannabis is currently categorized as a Schedule I drug, the same classification as heroin. A Schedule I drug is considered to have no medical benefit and a high propensity for abuse.
Last year, HHS recommended that cannabis be moved to Schedule III, which means it's deemed to have some potential for abuse but also some medical uses. The HHS review specifically concluded that there is evidence that marijuana could help people with chronic pain.
In his speech, Biden said his administration expunged thousands of cannabis records, but his executive order used different language — it said he would issue pardons to people with cannabis offenses. It’s an important difference, because someone with an expunged record can say they do not have a criminal record on a job application or background check, while those with pardoned records cannot.
Biden was the only Democratic presidential candidate in 2020 to not wholly embrace cannabis decriminalization. The fact that he is mentioning these actions at the State of the Union address, even if they fall short of full federal legalization, signals that he cannot ignore the interest in cannabis policy from voters key to his reelection campaign.
Biden needs to make up ground among young voters especially, many of whom have been turned off by a lack of action on student loans and Biden's failure to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
