The Biden reelection campaign says the Trump administration \u201ctook marijuana reform backwards\u201d by rescinding Justice Department guidance that promoted discretion in federal cannabis prosecutions.<\/p>\n
In an email distributed on Thursday, the Biden-Harris campaign touted the vice president\u2019s White House roundtable with recent pardon recipients who received clemency for drug-related convictions and contrasted various criminal justice reform initiatives with the record of former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee in this year\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\n
Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019s event\u2014where she again touted President Joe Biden\u2019s mass cannabis pardons<\/a>\u2014comes in \u201cstark contrast with the Trump administration\u2019s failures on criminal justice reform,\u201d the Democratic ticket\u2019s campaign email said, listing various policy actions from the former president.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump and his administration took marijuana reform backwards, withdrawing guidelines to limit prosecutions of marijuana offenses that were legal under state laws,\u201d the email says.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a reference to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions\u2019s move to rescind Obama-era guidance known as the Cole memo<\/a> that laid out federal cannabis enforcement priorities, generally formalizing a policy of non-intervention for state-legal marijuana activity.<\/p>\n The practical impact of the decision was limited, as states have continued to operate legal marketplaces and approve additional legalization laws largely without federal interference. But the move was symbolically significant, raising concerns about a potential federal crackdown that never ultimately materialized.<\/p>\n While the Biden campaign email criticized the prior administration\u2019s action, however, it omitted the fact that any cannabis guidance has yet to be reissued under the current administration\u2014despite Attorney General Merrick Garland saying in June 2022 that DOJ would be addressing the issue \u201cin the days ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n When Garland was\u00a0asked about the issue during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing<\/a>\u00a0last March, he said that it was \u201cfair to expect\u201d that the updated marijuana policy would be \u201cvery close to what was done in the Cole Memorandum.\u201d<\/p>\n Two Democratic congressional lawmakers said in a letter to Garland late last month that it is \u201cunacceptable\u201d that the Justice Department has yet to reissue the federal marijuana enforcement guidance<\/a> to discourage interference in state cannabis programs, leaving Americans in a \u201clegal limbo\u201d despite promises to update the policy.<\/p>\n In any case, the Biden campaign\u2019s choice to draw the cannabis contrast is notable, representing one of the latest examples of how the president is aiming to leverage the popularity of marijuana reform ahead of the November election.<\/p>\n \u201cOn criminal justice, the contrast couldn\u2019t be clearer: while Trump talks about pardoning January 6th rioters and celebrating violence, Vice President Harris and President Biden are giving a second chance to people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses,\u201d Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer said in Thursday\u2019s email.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on the cannabis holiday 4\/20 last Saturday, both Biden and Harris promoted marijuana policy reform in social media posts at exactly 4:20pm ET<\/a>.<\/p>\n The president also discussed the cannabis actions in a historic context last month, during his State of the Union address<\/a>.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Biden, Harris and a top Justice Department official all marked \u201cSecond Chance Month\u201d by\u00a0separately touting the administration\u2019s mass marijuana pardons<\/a>\u2014another acknowledgement from the White House that cannabis reform is a focus heading into the November election.<\/p>\n Read the full Biden campaign email below:<\/strong><\/p>\n FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong> Vice President Harris Highlights Biden Administration Pardons, Criminal Justice Contrast With Trump Failures<\/strong><\/p>\n Today at the White House, Vice President Harris hosted Kim Kardashian and others to hold a roundtable discussion on criminal justice reform. It comes after last month\u2019s White House discussion on marijuana reform, led by Vice President Harris.<\/p>\n At the event, 4 of the 16 recipients of President Biden\u2019s latest pardons and commutations attended. These individuals were convicted of nonviolent drug offenses and many received longer sentences than they would have under current law and practice.<\/p>\n This is in stark contrast with the Trump administration\u2019s failures on criminal justice reform:<\/p>\n The following is a statement from Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer<\/strong>:<\/p>\n \u201cOn criminal justice, the contrast couldn\u2019t be clearer: while Trump talks about pardoning January 6th rioters and celebrating violence, Vice President Harris and President Biden are giving a second chance to people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n ###<\/p>\n Paid for by Biden for President<\/p>\n Judge Schedules Oral Arguments In Marijuana Companies\u2019 Lawsuit Challenging Federal Prohibition<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Biden Campaign Says Trump \u2018Took Marijuana Reform Backwards\u2019 By Rescinding Enforcement Memo, Despite Current Admin Failing To Reinstate It<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Biden reelection campaign says the Trump administration \u201ctook marijuana reform backwards\u201d by rescinding Justice Department guidance that promoted discretion in federal cannabis prosecutions. In an email distributed on Thursday, the Biden-Harris campaign touted the vice president\u2019s White House roundtable with recent pardon recipients who received clemency for drug-related convictionsContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74690"}],"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=74690"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74691,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74690\/revisions\/74691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nApril 25, 2024<\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: Biden Campaign Says Trump \u2018Took Marijuana Reform Backwards\u2019 By Rescinding Enforcement Memo, Despite Current Admin Failing To Reinstate It<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"