US Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN), one of two primary challengers to President Biden, says Biden should smoke marijuana to better understand the hypocrisy of the federal government’s stance on the plant compared to alcohol.
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During a town hall in New Hampshire, Rep. Phillips says he’s “sure” that President Biden “has never even smelt weed, let alone smoked it.”
This led to Phillips says that the “fact of the matter is, I think he should.” Phillips says if he does, “he would find it awfully hypocritical that you can drink a half a gallon of Jack Daniels at night and report to work in his White House, but if you ate a gummy and it was discovered you’d be fired and maybe even imprisoned”.
Phillips doubled down by saying “It’s hypocritical. It’s nonsensical. We have too many people, frankly, who are so out of touch and so old and so unbelievably ignorant of the reality that it has got to change.”
Phillips has long been supportive of federally legalizing marijuana, and he has supported and cosponsored multiple federal marijuana measures.
For example, he is a cosponsor for the SAFER Banking Act, a marijuana banking bill that recently passed the Senate Banking Committee. He has also supported the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act, and the States Reform Act, and he was one of 31 bipartisan members of the US House of Representatives that recently sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urging them to consider fully descheduling marijuana.
Biden, on the other hand, is not supportive of federal marijuana legalization and has a history of opposing ending marijuana prohibition. Despite this, he has taken several positive steps forward in regards to marijuana law reform.
For example, the Department of Health recently sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officially requesting marijuana be reclassified as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act, which would effectively legalize it for prescription use. The letter came in response to a request by President Biden last year for the government to research and consider rescheduling marijuana, and congressional researchers say it’s “likely” the DEA will actually take the action of rescheduling.
In addition to this, last year Biden signed the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act into law, making it the first standalone piece of marijuana legislation to ever be signed into law by a U.S. president.
Biden’s other primary challenger is author Marianne Williamson, who also supports legalizing marijuana.
