Is Joe Biden Good For Cannabis Industry ?
Former Vice President Joe Biden has announced he is throwing his hat in the ring as a candidate in the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary.
The grey haired politician made an appearance on the View last week with all the scripted emotional drama of an E Entertainment “reality show”, the cheers, the hugs and the tears.
The amiable “Uncle Joe” persona is great for daytime viewing and middle class white America soccer moms, but what about Joe as a politician and supporter of legalization of the Cannabis industry.
Joe Biden’s previous record shows a disaster for the cannabis markets and industry as he has a history of being the worst advocate for marijuana legalization.
JOE BIDEN CREATED THE “DRUG CZAR”.
Biden remains one of the original architects of America’s drug war. While his peers have retired, the 76 year old still remains and brings political clout with him.
The drug policies Joe Biden personally put in place during his 50 years as a politician are still be being felt in many communities. His influence over drug policy and mass incarceration began in the 1980s, when, as a senator from Delaware, he served as chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.
A lot of politicians from both parties vocally supported the war on drugs back in the days of “Just Say No.” But it was Joe Biden who pretty much single handedly dreamed up the idea of a cabinet level “Drug Czar”—a term he coined in a 1982 interview with the New York Times. Seven years later, after working in tandem with the Reagan administration, he saw that dream come to life when the White House created the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
A 1989 report to Congress put it in dollar figures:
No attempt should be made to disguise the fact that significant new resources will be required to pay for the many proposals advanced in this report… Last February, this Administration requested nearly $717 million in new drug budget authority for Fiscal Year 1990. Now, after six months of careful study, we have identified an immediate need for $1.478 billion more. With this report, the Administration is requesting FY 1990 drug budget authority totaling $7.864 billion—the largest single-year dollar increase in history.
“The Director shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of [such] a substance (in any form).”
While on his tour for the Presidency, Joe should be made to answer some serious questions to either make a late conversion to cannabis legalization or explain why not. Either way, it’s not a good look. He’s also open to charges that his signature piece of legislation in the US Senate—the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act—played a key role in supercharging the for-profit prison industry and turning the United States into the nation with the world’s highest incarceration rate.
REEFER MADNESS IS STILL JOE BIDEN’S TRUTH
Biden remains one of very few prominent Democrats who’ve still failed to endorse cannabis legalization at the federal level. A policy that’s currently supported by 62% of Americans—including 45% of Republicans—and is already the law of the land in ten states remains too radical for him to sign off on.
“There’s a difference between sending someone to jail for a few ounces and legalizing it,” he said. “The punishment should fit the crime. But I think legalization is a mistake. I still believe [marijuana] is a gateway drug.” Joe Biden 2010, ABC News interview.
Before we start the great race for the 2020 Presidency we need to make good judgement calls and see how lack of forethought can impact America. It can’t be just a matter of voting because of political party anymore.