OVERNIGHT OPINIONS - Biden’s Pot Pardons Are Poppycock (October 9, 2022)

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You’ve probably heard about it by now. President Biden is going to issue pardons for thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession at the federal level.

Before we all start clapping, let’s dig a little deeper… something the mainstream media won’t do.

This pardon will only apply to about 6,500 people. But wait, I thought marijuana was a bigger facet of the criminal justice system. It is. However, Biden’s move doesn’t apply to those who sell marijuana or those who produce or possess it with an intent to distribute.

Let’s take a look at what small piece of the pie Biden is slicing. Less than 150 people are in federal prison for marijuana possession, right now. But there are nearly 7 times as many people in federal prison for trafficking of marijuana (1005).

But they get no help.

Guess the government doesn’t want anyone making money off drugs - that’s unless it's opioids. You can smoke it just don’t sell it. Seems like they might have gotten some policy advice from Bill Clinton, the guy that said I smoked marijuana but I didn’t inhale it.

So, this move only helps largely those already out of the system. They’ve done their time, now they’ll just get a pardon that will white wash their past. Yet, no one can take away the time they already did in prison. Its main remedy is helping people after prison and overcome the stain that we as a country put on their record. The administration is actually trying to figure out how to give these pardoned individuals a certificate to show employers to help them get jobs and overcome their records. Seems a bit frivolous - like a half baked apology for putting them in prison in the first place.

But on to the big one: Biden is going to conduct a review on whether marijuana should continue to be a Schedule 1 Drug.

What is a Schedule 1 Drug you ask? Well, those are ones that have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” These include: heroin, LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, methaqualone, and peyote.

That’s right, the government sees no difference between marijuana and heroin. Voters must see a difference, though. Nearly half of all Americans have used marijuana in their lifetime compared to less than 2% of Americans who have used heroin.

Telling you that marijuana has medical advantages is a no brainer. It does not bear repeating. Nor does the fact that marijuana doesn’t have a high use for abuse. We know it doesn’t. No one has ever died from marijuana. Name me a Big Pharma drug that can say that.

*crickets*

I’m waiting.

Now, if this is so pressing, why wait until now. Uncle Joe was senator for 36 years and then he was Vice President for 8 years after that. Just one month before the midterms, seems convenient. And I wonder if that reclassification will even happen after the ballots are cast.

But here’s what the mainstream media won’t tell you. Ol’ Joe is a central figure in the War on Drugs.

Biden either co-sponsored, sponsored, or wrote the following four pieces of legislation:
- Comprehensive Control Act
- Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
- Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988
- Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

These ramped up the War on Drugs and followed the old school thinking and stereotypes on drugs and the people who use them. In fact, in response to President George H.W. Bush’s anti-drug policies, Biden claimed he didn’t go far enough. Biden has done a couple mea culpas. Most notably the Second Chance Act in 2008, that provides counseling to former prison inmates, and the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which eliminates the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine. But these are very light touches to a problem he and his Senate buddies created.

Although he might genuflect at times to progressives, he has no record of doing anything but making the problem worse. And this isn’t just me cherry picking a quote from decades ago. As recently as 2016 he said this about drug policies he enacted:

“Not at all. As a matter of fact, I drafted the bill, if you remember.”

All this pussyfooting around marijuana and drugs is just a political stunt. A long record of doubling down on the War on Drugs - specifically - marijuana doesn’t make for a man about to change his tune in his late 70’s. He thinks it will help him in the midterms ... or maybe he has a soft spot for crack heads since his son Hunter is one. But the mainstream media will not talk about how small of an effort this is on Biden’s part. It’s him doing the very least he can. They are helping him instead create an image of progressive Uncle Joe. But really, if he was progressive, wouldn't he get rid of all federal laws on the books against marijuana? Wouldn’t he just reclassify it off the schedule of drugs? Wouldn’t he champion the support of marijuana decriminalization legislation already in circulation?

Why hasn’t Biden been demanding action on H.R.365 - a bill that would lower marijuana from schedule 1 to a schedule 3 drug. This was introduced back in 2021. What about championing the The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act that passed this past April that would remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances and eliminate criminal penalties for individuals who grow, distribute or possess it. Or what about the H.R.5977 that was introduced by Republican Nancy Mace last fall? Why not toot that horn as a bipartisan win, as it would end marijuana prohibition, establish a 21 year age limit, and leave the rest of regulation to the states.

Biden could have demanded action on any of these. Believe me, if the president said I want to sign a pro marijuana bill, the American people would be behind it. And since the Democrats control both houses, now is the time to do it. We know that Republicans won’t get it done. So why wait? Unless the Democrats really don’t want a change either.

I’ll tell you why. Legalizing marijuana or rescheduling it will start a domino effect. People will start to question the overall War on Drugs and demand even more reform. The War on Drugs has failed everyone. It doesn’t stop use and it only makes it harder for the victims of addiction to heal themselves. We spend so much money on incarcerating individuals that will likely be back inside if they are addicted to drugs.

Besides, if in 2022 in America I can chop my titties off and say I’m a man, why can’t I smoke a duby or try cocaine or shoot up with heroin? If I can get an abortion because of “my body, my choice,” why can’t I do some LSD? If drag queens can striptease for children why can’t we tell kids that marijuana isn’t a dangerous drug?

But I can't just blame Biden. He’s just one of many drug doofus out there in government. The left has long been a supporter - the people, at least - of ending the War on Drugs, particularly, for marijuana. It’s conservative and republicans that clench their asses when the subject comes up.

For a party that ran to popping every drug they could find to ward off Covid-19, it seems a bit ironic.The started taking a horse dewormer for Covid but I can’t roll a J? I guess conservatives value advice from Mr. Ed more than they do the half of cancer doctors that recommend marijuana for their patients. Conservatives screamed that they should have the right to make decisions about their bodies, follow their own research, and listen to their own doctor. So what can’t I and every other American take a drag of sweet Mary Jane? They popped hydroxychloroquine like candy. Any prescription was fine because damn it, they didn't want Covid. And this was after a lot of them acted like the virus wasn’t even real when the whole pandemic began.

Only in America can you take a horse dewormer or chop your dick off and be a woman and half the country will praise one of those ideas. But ask a politician to decriminalize marijuana, well, slap my ass and call me Sally. Ain’t no way, no how that devil's weed will be allowed in this country.

Did you know that according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, drugs make up nearly one-third of all inmates in federal prison (32.2%). In fact, drugs are the largest category of all offenses. The next three highest categories are immigration, firearms, and murder. Just under 70,000 people are in prison because they took a substance that politicians don’t like and some people, particularly conservatives, are bigoted against. The left’s “my body, my choice” and the right’s claims of small government alway fade away when the War on Drugs or marijuana comes up. Ideology doesn't matter anymore - morality does.

When it came to Biden’s pardons, he Tweeted the following:
“Sending people to jail for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives — for conduct that is legal in many states. That’s before you address the clear racial disparities around prosecution and conviction. Today, we begin to right these wrongs.”

Well, just never forget those wrongs affect very few people, leave many left out, and allow many more to still get arrested for the very crime you’re pardoning. If Biden can’t decriminalize marijuana or reschedule it, maybe he should get some help from another tough guy.

REFERENCES:
https://search.brave.com/search?q=Today%2C+however%2C+few+people+%E2%80%94+less+than+150+%E2%80%94+are+in+federal+prison+simply+for+cannabis+possession.&source=desktop
https://ida.ussc.gov/analytics/saw.dll?Dashboard https://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_offenses.jsp
https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling
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https://drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/how-many-people-use-heroin
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/4/25/18282870/joe-biden-criminal-justice-war-on-drugs-mass-incarceration
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/war-on-drugs-prisons-infographic_n_4914884
https://apnews.com/article/biden-marijuana-government-and-politics-2d5e3d9e2cfbbbe3ee114536738894a8
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/us/politics/biden-marijuana-pardon.html
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2022.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/bidens-marijuana-pardons-wont-free-many-currently-in-federal-prison-2022-10
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5977/text -
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bill-legalize-marijuana-passes-us-house-faces-dim-prospects-senate-2022-04-01/
https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/federal-sentencing-statistics/quarterly-sentencing-updates/USSC_Quarter_Report_3rd_FY22.pdf https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5715717/Half-Americas-doctors-recommend-marijuana-cancer-patients.html
https://norml.org/laws/federal-penalties-2/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsK3aaYq9zA