President Biden came into office with moderate views on marijuana reform, backing the decriminalization of the drug and allowing states to go their own way while not endorsing any broad, federal-level changes. With the midterm elections looming, many liberals in Congress now aim to push the present into a more progressive position, believing that the issue would be popular with voters and advance the cause of criminal justice reform. Supporters are also encouraged by recent legislative victories, although they believe Biden could enact cannabis reform on the federal level through executive action (although it is usually done through Congress, where there is little consensus on legalization). Some Democratic candidates are already becoming more vocal about the cannabis reform, urging the president to remove the drug from the list of controlled substances and pardon those convicted of nonviolent marijuana-related crimes. Currently, 19 states have legalized recreational weed and 36 allow medical cannabis, without any intervention from federal authorities. Polls regularly show that a majority of Americans favor marijuana legalization, while at the same time a majority of communities in many legal states have opted out of allowing retail sales.
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Rosenthal Center for AddictIon Studies