The History of Joe Biden and Marijuana.
Take a look at Joe Biden’s thoughts on Marijuana throughout history.
Joe Biden certainly has a very sketchy legislative history when it comes to personal freedoms. He praised civil asset forfeiture, supported the infamous 1994 Crime Bill, and he certainly has a history of Marijuana. His earliest actions can be seen when he supported the Comprehensive Narcotics Control Act of 1986. This was the bill that divided controlled substances into five schedules and federally classified Marijuana as a Schedule One drug. Schedule One drugs are classified as not safe and a high potential for abuse. Joe Biden also supported the Federal Crime Control Act of 1989.
“Requires the Attorney General to direct the U.S. attorneys to establish a program with State and local prosecutors: (1) whereby cases involving persons arrested on a designated day each month for felony drug offenses are presented to a Federal grand jury and, if indicted, are prosecuted in Federal court; and (2) aimed at using Federal laws to seize and forfeit the automobiles of persons who use such vehicles in the commission of drug-related offenses.”
The Federal Crime Control Act of 1989 expanded authority for the government to take an individual’s assets. This expansion of civil asset forfeiture was definitely a government overreach and hurt individual liberty. Joe Biden is also on record falsely stating that Marijuana is a “gateway drug”. “I still believe it’s a gateway drug. I’ve spent a lot of my life as chairman of the Judiciary Committee dealing with this. I think it would be a mistake to legalize,”
Despite Joe Biden’s very sketchy history, he started to support the idea of decriminalizing Marijuana which would remove it as a Schedule One drug. He also clarified his stance on Twitter back in Nov. 18, 2019. The takeaway seems like he would be good for Cannabis, but his very problematic history gives room for individuals to be skeptical.
