On Thursday, Biden contributed to the perception among a growing majority of Americans that his Democratic Party doesn't care one whit about the rule of law when he announced he would be pardoning thousands of people convicted on federal marijuana charges, as ABC News reports:
The executive action will benefit 6,500 people with federal convictions from 1992 to 2021 and thousands of others charged under the District of Columbia's criminal code, according to senior administration officials. Elaborating on the number of people affected, officials said "there are no individuals currently in federal prison solely for simple possession of marijuana."
"As I said when I ran for president, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana," Biden said in a tweet containing a video statement. "It's legal in many states, and criminal records for marijuana possession have led to needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And that's before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences. While white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people are arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates."
Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. Hear from @POTUS on the three steps he is taking to right these wrongs. pic.twitter.com/IqOxHxjgue
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 6, 2022
Biden has also instructed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Attorney General Merrick Garland to quickly review how marijuana's scheduling under federal law. Currently it is listed as a Schedule I drug the same as herion and ecstacy, which Biden says "makes no sense," though it did to him the 45-odd years he was a U.S. senator.
"Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It's time that we right these wrongs," Biden added.
ABC News opined that Biden's actions 'could be' construed as entirely political in nature -- a way to energize younger voters to show up to the polls and vote for his destructive party. And of course, that's what this is all about.
It may be 'legal' in states but it's still against federal statutes. But thanks for adding to the perception among more Americans that Democrats don't give a shit about the rule of law.
— Dr. Jonny Republic If You Can Keep It ?? (@JonDougherty10) October 7, 2022
"I think this is part of the electric car, student loan, marijuana strategy all timed for the election. Don’t think it overcomes particularly the growing issue of crime and drug related crime in the country," said Fox News contributor Mark Penn, a former advisor to President Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
Kellyanne Conway, President Trump's 2016 campaign manager and top political strategist, agreed that the pot pardon is a diversion from the regime's many failures and problems, including massive inflation, an out-of-control southwestern border, and a major recession.
"Whether it is student loan forgiveness or pardoning marijuana possession convictions, a bereft Biden tries hard to change the subject and get people who dislike him to dislike him a little bit less," Conway, also a Fox News contributor, told the network.
"This is less likely to motivate voters than it is to embarrass Vice President Kamala Harris. As San Francisco’s top prosecutor between 2004 and 2010, her office handled more than 1,900 marijuana convictions. Even if this makes sense legally or practically to Biden, he runs the risk as being seen again as ignoring the broader and deeper concerns surrounding violent crime surges and an inescapably devastating economic picture," she added.
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