White House Dodges Issue of Federal Decriminalization of Marijuana

Facing a tough midterm election season, and amid opposition from some Republicans and some moderate Democrats, the Joe Biden administration is sidestepping the politically sensitive issue of loosening marijuana laws and has yet to act on his own campaign-trail promises to decriminalize marijuana and expunge criminal records of users, reports the Wall Street Journal. Support for relaxing marijuana laws is much higher among Democrats than Republicans, and while more than half of U.S. states have legalized cannabis use for some purposes advocates for legal changes to marijuana laws acknowledge that this makes for a challenging political climate as the midterm elections approach and Republicans cast Democrats as soft on crime.

Some moderate Democrats said they want to see more research before legalizing marijuana while Biden himself has not embraced full legalization, instead calling for decriminalization and changes to the way cannabis is treated under the Controlled Substances Act. Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule II drug, like cocaine or fentanyl, would make it easier for researchers to study it. Advocates for changing marijuana laws say criminalizing the drug disproportionately hurts Black Americans. A 2020 study by the American Civil Liberties Union found that on average a Black person is 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than a white person, though usage rates are similar.