Biden Tells Black Voters That He Is Making Sure No One Is Jailed For Using, Possessing Weed

Last Updated: July 18, 2024, 11:48 IST

Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)

US President Joe Biden has repeated on several occasions that his administration is changing the way the US approaches the issue of marijuana usage, consumption and sale. (Image: Reuters)

US President Joe Biden said it was time that the US ‘right those historic wrongs’.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday told Black voters at the 115th NAACP National Convention that his administration is ensuring that people are not incarcerated for using or possessing marijuana.

He also said that his administration is working to expunge the records of those who have been jailed or arrested as it creates barriers for their personal growth.

I’m making sure no one goes to jail for mere use or possession of marijuana, and their records should be expunged.It’s time we right those historic wrongs.

— President Biden (@POTUS) July 17, 2024

“We’re making sure that no one goes to jail for the mere use of possession of marijuana. Their records should be expunged. It holds them back,” he said.

“I’m making sure no one goes to jail for mere use or possession of marijuana, and their records should be expunged. It’s time we right those historic wrongs,” he later said in an X post.

The statement from the US President at the event hosted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – a US civil rights organization that fights racial discrimination and advocates for equality – is crucial.

Biden is trying to shore up his support among vital Black voters. The veteran Democrat relied on African American voters to help him beat Donald Trump in 2020, but some polls show those same voters are increasingly deserting him ahead of November’s rematch with the Republican.

“While white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted at disproportionate rate,” Biden had earlier said in 2022.

A recent American Civil Liberties Union report found that in 2018, Black people were nearly four times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession, despite similar usage rates. This disparity has remained unchanged since 2010.

Despite Biden’s 2020 pledge to decriminalise cannabis, this commitment has not been realised in the first three and a half years of his administration.

US President Joe Biden’s administration formally proposed in May reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift that would bring federal policy more in line with public opinion.

Marijuana has been classified since 1970 as a so-called Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) — the same level as with heroin, ecstasy and LSD. That classification means it is deemed to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

But it would be downgraded to a Schedule III drug under the proposal, putting it alongside drugs like ketamine and painkillers containing codeine, considered to have a moderate to low likelihood of dependence.

That wouldn’t make it legal, but it could lead to fewer arrests at the federal level.

Shankhyaneel Sarkar

Shankhyaneel Sarkar is a senior subeditor at News18. He covers international affairs, where he focuses on breaking news to in-depth analyses. He has o