The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is touting President Joe Biden\u2019s marijuana pardons and rescheduling moves, while calling for broader reform to expunge prior records. However, unlike in 2020, the party\u2019s latest draft platform that was approved by a party committee on Tuesday doesn\u2019t promote broader cannabis decriminalization.<\/p>\n
The party is also blasting former President Donald Trump, the newly named Republican presidential nominee, over his prior administration\u2019s anti-cannabis actions.<\/p>\n
As the November election approach, DNC is taking a note from the president, describing the cannabis pardons he\u2019s issued as one of the \u201chistoric steps\u201d Biden has taken to promote criminal justice reform in his first term. \u201cNo one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana,\u201d it says, echoing the president\u2019s increasingly common refrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cSending people to prison for possession has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,\u201d it says. \u201cThose criminal records impose needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities, disproportionately affecting Black and brown people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possession has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Those criminal records impose needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities, disproportionately affecting Black and brown people. President Biden took historic action to end this failed approach by pardoning people convicted federally for using or possessing marijuana. He has called on governors to use their pardon power to do the same for state-level offenses. And his Administration is taking a major step to reschedule marijuana so it\u2019s no longer classified as more dangerous than fentanyl or methamphetamine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gay Valimont, a DNC delegate who is running against incumbent Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) this election, briefly touched on the issue at Tuesday\u2019s DNC Platform Committee hearing, reiterating that the platform \u201cshowcases President Biden\u2019s action to improve the criminal justice system by taking a major step to reschedule marijuana and pardoning those federally convicted of marijuana-only offenses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe platform<\/a>, meanwhile, also says<\/a> that Democrats \u201cwill take action to expunge federal marijuana-only convictions.\u201d While Biden had repeatedly suggested his pardons already cleared records, he more recently clarified that that\u2019s not the case. While pardons represent formal forgiveness, a president cannot unilaterally expunge records.<\/p>\n Notably, however, the party\u2019s position on decriminalizing cannabis is not explicitly mentioned in this year\u2019s platform. Biden had previously campaigned on that policy, but he\u2019s been largely silent on decriminalization since being elected, despite Vice President Kamala Harris calling for broader marijuana legalization<\/a> in a recent closed-door roundtable discussion with pardon recipients.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats will take action to expunge federal marijuana-only convictions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In addition to decriminalization, the prior 2020 platform DNC adopted also pushed for medical marijuana legalization<\/a>, which is also omitted from this new draft version.<\/p>\n But the current form still stands in stark contrast with the 2024 GOP platform, which doesn\u2019t touch on marijuana specifically at all but does promote policies that promote an anti-drug agenda. The party said<\/a> it will \u201ccrack down hard on\u201d and \u201cdemolish\u201d drug cartels, for example.<\/p>\n Democrats are also hoping to leverage the contrasting marijuana positions of Biden and former President Donald Trump. DNC\u2019s draft platform states that the Trump administration \u201cthreatened federal prosecution for marijuana cases in states where marijuana was legal\u201d by rescinding Obama-era guidance that generally urged discretion in enforcing prohibition for cannabis-related activity that was legal under state law.<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s approach to criminal justice could not be more different. His Administration threatened federal prosecution for marijuana cases in states where marijuana was legal.\u201d<\/p>\n The Biden campaign has also played into those differing policy positions<\/a>, with multiple email blasts and online advertisements that frame the incumbent as the better choice for those who support cannabis reform.<\/p>\n Biden tweeted on Wednesday that he\u2019s \u201cmaking sure no one goes to jail for mere use or possession of marijuana, and their records should be expunged.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time we right those historic wrongs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n I’m making sure no one goes to jail for mere use or possession of marijuana, and their records should be expunged.<\/p>\n It\u2019s time we right those historic wrongs.<\/p>\n \u2014 President Biden (@POTUS) July 17, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The DNC\u2019s vote to adopt the platform also came one day after Trump\u2019s vice presidential pick, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH),<\/a> was announced at the Republican National Committee (RNC) conference following Trump\u2019s formal nomination as the party\u2019s presidential nominee. Vance has supported states\u2019 rights to set their own cannabis laws, but he\u2019s voted against bipartisan cannabis banking legislation and opposes broader legalization.<\/p>\n But while DNC and the Biden campaign want to strike a contrast with Republicans and Trump on marijuana policy reform, it\u2019s still the case that the Democratic organization\u2019s adopted positions fall short of what the majority of Americans, and especially left-leaning voters, support: federally legalizing marijuana.<\/p>\n Biden himself does not back that policy, as the White House had made clear. And during DNC\u2019s 2020 platform meeting, the party\u2019s delegates rejected a proposed amendment to make legalization part of its official stance<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kentucky Governor Pushes DEA To Reschedule Marijuana, Saying It\u2019s An \u201cAlternative To Deadly Opioids\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Democratic Party Touts Biden Marijuana Reform Actions, But Declines To Endorse Decriminalization, In 2024 Platform<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is touting President Joe Biden\u2019s marijuana pardons and rescheduling moves, while calling for broader reform to expunge prior records. However, unlike in 2020, the party\u2019s latest draft platform that was approved by a party committee on Tuesday doesn\u2019t promote broader cannabis decriminalization. The party isContinue 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":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76875"}],"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=76875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76876,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76875\/revisions\/76876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Democratic Party Touts Biden Marijuana Reform Actions, But Declines To Endorse Decriminalization, In 2024 Platform<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"