Whether you’ve seen the headlines about debates on CNN or the Denver Votes truck on campus, it’s easy to see that the 2020 presidential race already in full swing. In the midst of a long election season, voters are tasked with researching candidates’ stances on many hot topic issues. Here in the Driscoll Green column, we’re here to offer you the run-down on marijuana: who supports legislation, who doesn’t, who is unclear?
Cannabis has not been heavily debated throughout the first four Democratic debates, which has already seen a significant decline in candidate numbers; The 26 original presidential candidates has now been narrowed down to 17, with the clear front runners being Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. President Trump has also not been hugely vocal or comprehensive about cannabis policies.
Currently, over 60 percent of Americans support federal marijuana legislation.
In the past year, the government has been steadily mobilizing progressive marijuana laws, most notably with the recent House of Representatives vote that passed The Secure And Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act on Sept. 25.
So how do the presidential candidates feel about marijuana? Read about the five Democratic frontrunners and President Trump’s views below.
Joe Biden:
An outlier among all other Democratic candidates, previous Vice President Joe Biden does not support federal legislation and views marijuana as a dangerous gateway drug. During the Sept. 12 Democratic debate, Biden stated that marijuana crimes should be regarded as misdemeanors rather than resorting to prison sentences. Though Biden now actively supports the decriminalization of marijuana, his views are somewhat contradictory since misdemeanors can still result in jail time. Biden has stated that he does not support prison time for non-violent crimes; he has vouched for more funding into rehabilitation centers over prisons, stating that “nobody should be in jail for a drug problem.”
However, Joe Biden’s history with drug and marijuana legislation is the most controversial out of all the presidential candidates. For decades, Biden has asserted himself as a proponent of the War on Drugs, often criticizing his conservative counterparts, notably President George Bush, for being too lenient on drug legislation.
During the 1980s and ‘90s, a drug and crime crisis infiltrated the US, most notably in the crack cocaine epidemic. In efforts to crack down on crime and drug use, the government passed a series of policies that have notoriously furthered racial bias in the criminal justice system and mass incarceration. In his previous position as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden spearheaded a great deal of these policies including the 1984 Comprehensive Control Act, The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, each summarized here on Vox news. These laws supported controversial policies such as higher penalties and longer prison sentences for drug related crimes, as well as police stops and seizures of someone’s property under suspicion of drug activity.
Biden has since gone back on his hard-hitting and punitive policies in his 2008 support of the Second Chance Act and the 2010 support of the Fair Sentencing Act. In his presidential race, Biden published his criminal justice reform plan that shows him in support of marijuana decriminalization and decreased prison time for nonviolent crimes.
Elizabeth Warren:
The heavy-hitting leader in the Democratic race supports federal legislation, proving to be one of the most passionate advocates of legalization. Warren supports medical and recreational marijuana and has endorsed several marijuana reform bills, notably the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act, “a bill that would allow states to make their own cannabis policies without fear of federal interference,” according to Medical Marijuana, Inc. News.
Bernie Sanders:
Sanders, the popular far-left candidate, is the most passionate about federal legislation. Sanders has always been in active support for legalization throughout his entire political career. In the exact opposition to Biden’s stance in the War on Drugs, Sanders has advocated for an end to punitive drug policies. In August of 2019, Sanders, in an interview on Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” stated that he would use an executive order to legalize marijuana. Sanders is also a co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act, which would allow states to instate their own cannabis laws/legalization and declassify marijuana as an illegal substance.
Pete Buttigeg:
The mayor of South Bend, Indiana also supports the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana. Though Buttigeg is not hugely outspoken about the issue, he sees marijuana reform as necessary for social justice. In July, he introduced the Douglass Plan, which states, “We will, on the federal level, eliminate incarceration for drug possession, reduce sentences for other drug offenses and apply these reductions retroactively, legalize marijuana and expunge past convictions.”
Kamala Harris:
Though the California senator now supports the legalization and is also a co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act, Harris has not always been consistent in this view. As District Attorney of San Francisco, she outwardly opposed legalization. However, after becoming a senator, she completely flipped her views and has since been blazing paths for both medical and recreational legalization. Harris is also open about her own marijuana usage.
Donald Trump:
The current president and likely Republican candidate for 2020 still proves to be unclear in his policy desires regarding marijuana. While running for the 2016 election, he expressed support of medical marijuana but not recreational, directly critiquing Colorado’s full legalization. Yet, the president has always been consistent in his view that state’s should be able to make their own marijuana laws without federal government interference, reaffirming his stance during an interview in August.
