![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-54.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
President Joe Biden still believes people shouldn\u2019t be incarcerated over marijuana\u2014but there\u2019s still no \u201cupdate\u201d on any progress to fulfill his decriminalization promise from the campaign trail, the White House said on the unofficial cannabis holiday 4\/20 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Press Secretary Jen Psaki was again asked about the president\u2019s pledge to stop criminalizing people over marijuana at a briefing with reporters. While there\u2019s no news from the administration on that proposal, the official instead touted moves by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to expand the number of authorized manufacturers<\/a> to grow cannabis for research purposes.<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t quite address the decriminalization question.<\/p>\n \u201cThe president continues to believe that no one should be in jail because of drug use,\u201d Psaki said. \u201cI don\u2019t have an update here. We are continuing to work with Congress, but what I can say on marijuana is we\u2019ve made some progress on our promises.\u201d<\/p>\n DEA approving additional cannabis manufacturers for scientists is \u201ca key step in promoting research because it broadens the amount and quality of cannabis available for research purposes,\u201d the press secretary said.<\/p>\n She added that Biden is \u201ccontinuing to review his clemency powers, which is something he also talked about on the campaign and certainly remains committed to taking action on.\u201d Psaki made similar remarks on the clemency topic at a briefing in December<\/a>.<\/p>\n Biden has received about a dozen\u00a0letters<\/a>\u00a0from<\/a>\u00a0lawmakers<\/a>,\u00a0advocates<\/a>, celebrities and people impacted by criminalization to\u00a0do something<\/a>\u00a0about the people who remain behind federal bars over cannabis. After months of inaction, some members of Congress like\u00a0Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)<\/a>\u00a0have even\u00a0sent follow-up letters<\/a>\u00a0demanding a response.<\/p>\n As Biden continues to \u201creview\u201d his clemency powers, he could theoretically turn to a report published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) last year, affirming that the president has it within his power to grant mass pardons for cannabis offenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n The report also said that the administration can move to federally legalize cannabis without waiting for lawmakers to act.<\/p>\n But the prospects of unilateral action from the administration to comprehensively end prohibition remain in doubt. About a year ago, Psaki\u00a0reiterated that the president\u2019s opposition to broad reform<\/a>\u00a0\u201chas not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about a bill to federally legalize marijuana that passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month, the official said the president agrees that \u201cour current marijuana laws are not working,\u201d but she declined to directly address whether the president supports the specific legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Biden campaigned on several cannabis reform promises\u2014from rescheduling to expungements to legalization for medical use\u2014but he\u2019s yet to act on most of them after more than a year in office<\/a>. That\u2019s in spite of intense pressure from lawmakers and advocates throughout his tenures.<\/p>\n Biden himself hasn\u2019t made a substantive public comment about cannabis policy since entering the Oval Office, beside making a quick, dismissive comment to a reporter who asked about clemency for current federal marijuana prisoners.<\/p>\n Vice President Kamala Harris, for her part, suggested last year that the Biden administration isn\u2019t focused on following through on its marijuana reform pledges<\/a>\u00a0because it\u2019s too overwhelmed with other issues.<\/p>\n Advocates are losing patience. It\u2019s one thing that the administration hasn\u2019t taken concrete steps on its own to change federal marijuana policy, but it\u2019s also taken actions that subvert reform efforts.<\/p>\n For example, in Biden\u2019s latest budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2023, he again proposed the continuation of a rider\u00a0blocking Washington, D.C. from legalizing cannabis sales<\/a>. To the relief of advocates, however, he again kept a separate rider intact to protect legal medical cannabis programs from federal intervention.<\/p>\n The lack of clemency action from Biden is especially disappointing to advocates who have been lobbying the White House to do something on this issue.<\/p>\n Early in 2021, the Biden administration came under fire after it was reported that it had\u00a0terminated or otherwise punished dozens of staffers<\/a>\u00a0who admitted to prior marijuana use as part of their background check process.<\/p>\n Psaki previously\u00a0attempted to minimize the fallout<\/a>, without much success, and\u00a0her office also stressed that nobody was fired<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cmarijuana usage from years ago,\u201d nor has anyone been terminated \u201cdue to casual or infrequent use during the prior 12 months.\u201d\u00a0 However, she\u2019s consistently declined to speak to the extent to which staff have been suspended or placed in a remote work program because they were honest about their history with marijuana on the federal background check form.<\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, a poll released in January found that more than half of Americans feel that Biden has made little to no progress on his campaign pledge to decriminalize marijuana during his first year in office\u2014and most people also\u00a0aren\u2019t betting on him doing more to advance the reform in 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beside the House passed legalization bill, Senate leadership is also working to finalize its own legislation to end prohibition and promote social equity. However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently pushed back the timeline for that bill\u2019s introduction<\/a> after saying it would likely be filed this month.<\/p>\n Several Republican members of Congress introduced a bill last November to federally legalize and tax marijuana<\/a>\u00a0as an alternative to far-reaching Democratic-led reform proposals and scaled-down GOP cannabis descheduling legislation. The sponsor of that bill, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), said she expects a committee hearing on her proposal.<\/p>\n Last week, a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers filed a bill that would simply direct the attorney general to create a commission<\/a>\u00a0charged with making recommendations on a regulatory system for marijuana that models what\u2019s currently in place for alcohol.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, DEA said in a new report that as more marijuana is being produced domestically in the U.S., it\u2019s undermining illicit cannabis trafficking from Mexico<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separately, Florida\u2019s agriculture commissioner on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration<\/a>, arguing that the federal government is unconstitutionally depriving medical cannabis patients of their Second Amendment right to purchase and possess firearms.<\/p>\n Ohio Lawmakers File New Marijuana Legalization Bill On 4\/20 That Mirrors Ballot Initiative Activists Are Pursuing<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post White House Touts Marijuana Research Amid Inaction To Free Prisoners When Pressed On 4\/20<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden still believes people shouldn\u2019t be incarcerated over marijuana\u2014but there\u2019s still no \u201cupdate\u201d on any progress to fulfill his decriminalization promise from the campaign trail, the White House said on the unofficial cannabis holiday 4\/20 on Wednesday. Press Secretary Jen Psaki was again asked about the president\u2019s pledgeContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":54450,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54451,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54449\/revisions\/54451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-53.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: White House Touts Marijuana Research Amid Inaction To Free Prisoners When Pressed On 4\/20<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"