Why weed won’t be legalized in 2021 if Biden wins the Presidency

cannabis 2021 Joe Biden President

This November – no matter which way you look at it – things will get hairy. If Trump wins, you’ve got a large portion of the country that hates his guts. It could be the final slap that could prime the United States for prolonged civil unrest – something that has already been happening due to Covid and police violence against minorities.

People blame Trump for all of these things and while I don’t share that belief – I do think that Trump has helped pour gasoline on the fire of discord. It’s easy to find a scapegoat for all of the ills in the United States – but let’s be serious and realize that this shit has been going on for decades – Trump just makes it more visible.

Then we have Biden. Another millionaire white guy with nothing to offer except his “long standing political career” which includes his 1994 controversial “Crime Bill” and his slew of 1980s drug bills that created incentives for State authorities to arrest minorities at a higher rate.

When it comes to cannabis, neither Trump nor Biden are really good for the industry. They are pandering to the whims of their supporters and even with Bernie Sanders on board – they still are not planning to legalize cannabis at all.

Rather – they talked about Decriminalization because according to Joe, “There isn’t enough research”. Except- also according to Joe, there was enough research to create laws that would negatively affect minority communities.

But I digress.

Feel the Bern – burning out…

One of the biggest disappointments comes from Bernie Sanders who now – for the past two presidential elections – have managed to capture the passion of the youth, only to relinquish the power to the establishment tool – Biden.

Biden and Sanders made a task force and despite Sanders’ position on cannabis – Biden’s camp WILL NOT LEGALIZE.

Here’s a snippet from a Chicago Tribute Article;

“Democrats will decriminalize marijuana use and reschedule it through executive action on the federal level,” the document reads. “We will support legalization of medical marijuana, and believe states should be able to make their own decisions about recreational use.”

And…

“All past criminal convictions for cannabis use should be automatically expunged,” it reads. “And rather than involving the criminal justice system, Democrats support increased use of drug courts, harm reduction interventions, and treatment diversion programs for those struggling with substance use disorders.” - Source

While on paper this “seems reasonable” – the fact of the matter is that this clause is cause for worry; increased use of drug courts, harm reduction interventions, and treatment diversion programs.

Why? Because SAM [Smart Approach to Marijuana] reached out to Biden in a letter. If you don’t know who SAM is – I have been debunking their false claims for years now.

Why SAM is bad news for Cannabis?

Biden and SAM are two peas in a pod. They like to send people to “drug courts” and force them into rehab. This is one of the primary functions of SAM. In fact – if you look at who signed the letter, the majority of them are in psychiatry and rehabilitation.

For them – having a president that sends people to drug courts and mandates addiction programs is gold in the pocket. Under a scheme of legalization, nobody can be forced to go to rehab for cannabis. Under Biden’s regime – this could very well be the case.

Out of Touch with the Rest of the World

NORML’s Executive Director Erik Altieri wasn’t too keen on what he heard about the Biden-Sanders taskforce.

“It is impractical at best and disingenuous at worst for the Biden campaign to move ahead with these policy proposals…Rescheduling of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act would continue to make the federal government the primary dictators of cannabis policy, and would do little if anything to address its criminal status under federal law.” - Erik Altieri

With the industry working on becoming fully legal on a federal level – Biden might push the federal legalization backwards. I recently made a prediction [pre-COVID] that cannabis would be legal in the US by 2021.

Now – with Biden running in the lead this might not happen. I’m not saying that it won’t happen, I’m saying that the odds are not looking favorable for legalization.

On the bright side – not convicting people for cannabis is a step in the right direction – however, Biden is a “Big Government” guy and would probably stuff in so much bureaucracy and federal taxes into legalization that it will have little to no impact on stopping the black market.

In fact – evidence shows that with more government intervention, the cost per cannabis increases and incentivizes the black market to continue to operate.

I don’t know where we’re going in 2021 and beyond – I think we first have to make it past November and wait for the dust to settle to know what’s going to happen. Perhaps there is so much civil unrest that 2021 needs to legalize weed just to chill everyone out.

What’s your take on the state of cannabis in Biden’s America?