Cannabis policy of the Joe Biden administration

This article is part of a series about Joe Biden
Political positions Electoral history Early life and career Eponyms Family Honors Public image U.S. Senator from Delaware Judiciary Committee Bork hearings Thomas hearings 1994 Crime Bill Violence Against Women Act Foreign Relations Committee Elections: 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 47th Vice President of the United States Transition Tenure Obama administration first inauguration second inauguration Economic policy Great Recession response 2010 Tax Relief Act 2011 debt-ceiling crisis fiscal cliff Foreign policy Task forces Gun Violence Protect Students from Sexual Assault 46th President of the United States Incumbent Presidency first 100 days timeline Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board Inauguration Efforts to impeach inquiry Tenure Executive actions proclamations Trips foreign '21 '22 '23 '24 Geneva summit COVID-19 pandemic Afghanistan withdrawal Classified documents incident 2023 debt-ceiling crisis Policies COVID-19 WH Response Team Economy ARP IIJA IRA Electoral/ethics Environment Foreign policy AUKUS Camp David Principles IPEF War in Ukraine War in Israel Immigration border crisis standoff at Eagle Pass Social issues guns cannabis marriage Appointments Cabinet Ambassadors Judges Supreme Court candidates Jackson Executive Office U.S. attorneys Presidential campaigns 1988 primaries 2008 primaries 2020 primaries sexual assault allegation Ukraine conspiracy theory convention debates election endorsements VP selection 2024 primaries election endorsements Vice presidential campaigns 2008 selection convention election 2012 convention election Published works Promises to Keep Promise Me, Dad
v t e

Background

The use, sale, and possession of

Trump indicated during his

Cannabis legalization was approved via November 2020 ballot measures in the three states of Arizona, Montana, and New Jersey. Additionally, medical cannabis was legalized via ballot measures during the same election in Mississippi and South Dakota; South Dakota became the first state to legalize medical and recreational cannabis simultaneously, though its referendum for recreational cannabis was nullified by a court.^[6] Observers noted that cannabis legalization was approved in states with both conservative and liberal electorates, making it one of the few issues to gain broad bipartisan support in an otherwise highly divisive election.^[7]

2021

The trend continued in 2021, as legalization was approved at the state level in Biden-carried states of New Mexico, New York, Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut.^[8] During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden said "individual states should decide whether to legalize it for recreational use."^[9]

2022–23 elections

Statewide ballot measures on cannabis legalization were held during the 2022 and 2023 elections. The states of Maryland, Missouri, and Ohio voted to legalize recreational cannabis,^[10] while the states of Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma voted against measures that would do the same.

Cannabis policy

As of March 2023, although Biden had stood for decriminalization and descheduling during his campaign, the administration had not formulated an explicit policy on cannabis. Some political and

In May 2021, the

In October 2022, President Biden announced a mass pardon for past federal cannabis possession convictions, encouraged governors to do the same for state cannabis possession convictions, and instructed Attorney General Merrick Garland and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to review the classification schedule of marijuana, which could result in removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.^[20]

On December 2, 2022, Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act.^[21]

The Viktor Bout–Brittney Griner prisoner exchange occurred on December 8, 2022 which involved an American WNBA athlete being convicted of cannabis possession on Russian soil.

References