On Labor Day 2022, John Fetterman found himself in a room with President Biden in Pittsburgh.
Fetterman, then Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor and a Democrat in the midst of a successful U.S. Senate bid, had a simple message he wanted to share.
And how did the president react? “He was just like, ‘Yeah, absolutely,'” Fetterman told me yesterday.
The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has recommended stricter federal regulations for marijuana. And although it’s unclear if lobbying from Democrats like Fetterman played any role, the move was the latest step by the Biden administration to liberalize the nation’s cannabis policies. Supporters of the Biden administration believe that a two-thirds majority would result in a clear political turnaround. of Americans support drug legalization.
“High reward, zero risk,” said Fetterman, who always wears a sweatshirt, joking that he only advises Biden on fashion and cannabis policy.
Mr. Biden, who wears suits, is more of a politician than a stalker, making him more like President Potts. That could boost his standing, especially among younger voters who support reclassifying marijuana as a less serious drug and supporters of reforming criminal justice laws.
One of the president’s allies wants him to talk more about the matter.
“He started forgiving people and rescheduling people, but he didn’t accept it. It’s not too late,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat from Oregon who has pushed for lenient cannabis policies for half a century. said the lawmaker (75). “The public needs to know that this is the most important step the federal government has taken in more than 50 years in the war on drugs.”
Embrace cannabis reform with caution
For much of his career, Biden has pushed tough-on-crime policies. And while the 2019 presidential candidate was mocked by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., for saying he opposed federal legalization of marijuana, he He also said no one should go to jail for smoking cigarettes.
As president, Biden has sought to make good on that promise, including pardoning thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law. In directing Cabinet members to review the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, he said he would ease restrictions on marijuana production and research, making it easier for people who use marijuana or build businesses around it. It opened the door to major federal government changes that would become easier. Access to lifelines such as public housing, banks, and tax breaks.
Biden promoted these actions at events such as the State of the Union address in March, but when the White House convened a roundtable on cannabis reform about a week later, Vice President Kamala Harris, not Biden himself, spoke out. It was sponsored. He has remained silent this week about whether he has resumed using marijuana. When asked about this, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said she did not want to get ahead of the complex process underway at the Justice Department.
Blumenauer warns that Biden is leaving behind a political opportunity. Fetterman ran a campaign to legalize marijuana and helped his party maintain control of the Senate.
“I think this is something Joe Biden and his administration should embrace in terms of energizing young people, in terms of being on the right side of reform, in terms of being on the right side of history,” Blumenauer said. said. “This is not a low-hanging fruit. This is picking fruit off the ground.”
But it’s unclear whether marijuana policy is as important an issue to young voters as issues like abortion rights or the economy.
In some ways, Biden has treated the marijuana issue in the same way he treated student debt, another progressive priority. Progressives have spent months pleading with him to cancel $50,000 in student loans all at once. His administration proceeded more cautiously, weighing legal options before developing a more moderate approach.
Mild dissent signals broader change
The administration’s move comes as 38 states and capitals have already legalized marijuana for medical reasons. Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational use.
And perhaps for that reason, some Republicans sought to minimize the impact of Biden’s actions on policy and the political landscape.
“This is an election year. A lot was said in 2020, but not a lot was done,” said Ohio Republican and former prosecutor who worked with Blumenauer on cannabis reform. said Congressman Dave Joyce. He said Biden’s actions will not prompt immediate change.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) said marijuana policy is fundamentally a bipartisan issue. He has concluded that legalization is inevitable in New Hampshire and is open to legalization as long as it is carefully regulated.
“Politically, I don’t think this is a huge victory,” Sununu said. “I think people understand that this is a gateway drug.”
But the lack of Republican attacks on Biden on marijuana policy seems to be a sign of how deeply marijuana has changed in the American political psyche.
“That makes sense,” Fetterman said, referring to the name given to those who remain strongly opposed to the drug. “The Reefer Madness caucus is probably smaller than the ‘I Want to Shoot My Dog’ caucus.”
The search for Christine O’Donnell
my colleague reed epstein I recently went looking for every Republican ever alive. has been at odds with Biden for decades. Represents Delaware in the Senate. One was a little harder to find than the others. I asked him to tell me more.
If you listen to Christine O’Donnell, first they stole her election, then they stole her political identity.
Last week, I went to find O’Donnell, forever infamous for her 2010 “I’m not a witch” declaration, to talk about her experience as the last Republican to run for Senate against Joe Biden in 2008. heard. She had not given an interview for eight years.
Mr. O’Donnell was one of the first Republicans to embrace the novice political populism that Mr. Trump would use to climb into the White House. She also claimed in her 2011 book that her landslide 29 percentage point loss to Biden was marred by voter fraud. There is no evidence for this.
These days, she falsely believes that Trump is the rightful winner of the 2020 election. I asked her whether her presidential campaign was simply premature, before voters were ready to support someone who questioned the foundations of American democracy.
“Humility requires me to say, ‘Oh, no,'” O’Donnell responded. “But my blow has opened up the political process to other people.”
After Trump went to the White House, O’Donnell moved to Florida and enrolled at Ave Maria Law School in Naples. She lived her life almost anonymously. But her past is never far away.
“I turned on the TV during a study break and heard someone on CNN saying, ‘Do you know who to blame for Donald Trump?’ Christine O’Donnell.” I was like, ‘Turn off the TV.’ ”
—Reid J. Epstein
