Just getting done with a long day of travel, and what do I see when I plug myself back in? Joe Biden has unilaterally pardoned all Americans who are in federal jail for simple possession of marijuana.
I give Biden a lot of shit, and he deserves a lot of shit. He built his political career on the very ‘tough on crime’ laws that he’s shying away from today. But on this particular move, Biden deserves a little bit of credit. The federal government has no power to regulate MJ, and according to our Constitution this should be handled by the states. This is a small step toward getting the federal government in its proper place.
So let’s take a moment to appreciate what Biden has done here.
Now that the moment is over, I have to once again complain that this is not how we properly pass legislation in America. Even when doing something that I agree with, Biden does it in the least effective way possible. There’s no actual law, there’s no new guidelines or moving MJ from Schedule I — only asking HHS to review such a move.
Going forward, this move doesn’t do anything at all to stop somebody from being arrested for possession tomorrow. In fact, it’s POSSIBLE that more people end up getting arrested for MJ possession erroneously thinking that Biden legalized MJ with this move. If Biden were actually serious about this issue, he would be doing the hard work to get a law passed to ensure this would have a lasting positive effect on the country. As it is, this smells just a little too much like vote buying for me. He certainly hasn’t learned anything — even as he declared disproportionate drug enforcement by race — because he’s pushing gun laws that are similar to his old drug laws. Maybe in five decades, democrats will realize those laws are racist, too.
Actually, I’m a bit of a prig on anything that alters the mind. No, that’s not totally true. It’s just that if I started, I’d be the one curled up in a ball in a corner. So, there you have that. HOWEVER, MY GOD, people…….please, if you’re going to smoke MJ, could you just at least do so in an open area and not walk into an enclosed area after!?!
I mean, you stink. I’m sure you don’t think so because you’re all happy and don’t care
This is not vote buying as noted below 6500 petty/career criminals are affected. (as others noted, the vast majority is for folks who pleaded down more serious charges.) Sorry but if you could get votes with legalization the Libertarian party would be relevant as it is the only thing they actually seem to care about. What you get from legalization is Wall Street money who want to fund an entire new, unregulated, industry delivering SOMA to the masses and seriously fucking up our kids by selling crap that is multiple times more amped than the stuff kids were smoking 40 years ago. As if closing the schools for over a year did not do enough damage. The dots I am connecting from yesterday's announcement is that Biden was off to a fund raiser in NMYC with all of the financiers who will get rich destroying lives.