Time to End our Schizo Pot Laws

President Biden’s pardon of thousands with federal marijuana possession charges is a smart political move because keeping a campaign promise might add Democratic votes.

But it also spotlights the inconsistencies in America’s patchwork of policies on marijuana use, now supported by a majority of the public.

Considered a dangerous drug under federal law, pot has been approved by many states for recreational and/or medicinal use. Yet even in states that license businesses to sell it, police departments still view arrests for low-level possession as key to fighting urban crime.

Biden’s decision clears the records of 6,500 people charged from 1992–2021 under federal law, along with thousands more charged under D.C. laws. No one is currently in federal prisons just on simple possession, so no one is getting released.

The charge, however, has long been a roadblock to getting jobs, finding housing, and even applying to college. Since most possession charges are imposed by states, governors or legislatures should issue similar pardons. Citizens should demand that they do so.

“Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Biden said in a statement last week. “And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.”

NAACP President Derrick Johnson applauded the Biden pardons: “Drug arrests and enforcement have caused racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system, and many drug laws were first created to target racial and ethnic minorities.”

Once opposed to marijuana decriminalization, Biden also ordered a review of whether the government should continue to classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug, comparable to heroin and LSD. The reasonable answer: absolutely not.

Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for adult recreational use; 38 have legalized it for medical use. Five states — Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota — will vote in November on whether to legalize it for recreational use.

Many Democratic governors issued statements supporting Biden’s actions, with North Carolina’s Roy Cooper expressing optimism about a stalled proposal to reduce possession to the level of a traffic citation.

Most of the Republican governors criticized Biden’s decision as a political ploy that would increase crime. However, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois reported on the success of their own decriminalization efforts.

There has been widespread pushback from GOP congressional or party leaders, who often label Democrats as “soft on crime.” To understand the low-key response, consider the support for legalization in recent surveys:

A November 2021 Gallup survey found that a record 68 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana, including 50 percent of Republican respondents.

A Morning Consult/Politico survey released this month found 60 percent of respondents believe the drug should be legal.

A 2021 Pew Research poll, 91 percent of Americans believe cannabis should be legalized to some degree — 31 percent for medical use and 60 percent for both medical and recreational use.

A 2022 Gallup poll showed 48 percent say they have tried marijuana, with 16 percent saying they smoke weed.

A 2021 report by The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse reported that nine percent of those aged 50 and older self-reported using pot in the previous year. Seniors are the fastest-growing demographic for pot use.

In Congress, several marijuana bills could pass this year, including one to stop legally equating pot to heroin and a bipartisan bill that would allow colleges to receive federal grants to study the drug or use it in studies.

After the election, the Senate is expected to consider the wide-ranging Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, to give cannabis businesses access to financial services like bank accounts, business loans, and credit card transactions. The businesses are often denied such services because of the conflict between state and federal drug laws.

The nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures and the U.S. Conference of Mayors support this legislation, which sets some rights for cannabis workers and funds studies of marijuana’s impact on health and impaired driving.

The most progressive part of the bill imposes a federal tax on marijuana revenue to reinvest into communities most impacted by the drug war, as well as to aid entrepreneurs of color to get a foothold in the industry.

“As more states legalize cannabis and work towards reversing the many injustices the failed War on Drugs levied against Black, Brown, and low-income people, the federal government continues to lag woefully behind,” said Sen. Cory Booker, a cosponsor with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden.

If this bill passes, the financial industry would continue to lobby state and federal governments to expand the pot business. States would be eager for the tax revenue and the community investment.

In other words: The pot business would likely become big business. So how does it make sense that the customers could still be labeled as criminals?