Today, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released the final 2024 Democratic Party Platform, which will be voted on by delegates at the Convention tomorrow evening.
This platform was passed by the Platform Committee on July 16, before the President stepped aside. It will receive a final vote tomorrow at the DNC Convention. A section of the platform states:
“No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possession has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Those criminal records impose needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities, disproportionately affecting Black and brown people. President Biden took historic action to end this failed approach by pardoning people convicted federally for using or possessing marijuana. He has called on governors to use their pardon power to do the same for state-level offenses. And his Administration is taking a major step to reschedule cannabis so it’s no longer classified as more dangerous than fentanyl or methamphetamine.”
In addition, the platform states “President Biden has used his pardon power to right historical wrongs. In addition to pardoning simple possession and use of marijuana, he’s pardoned or shortened the sentences of people convicted of other nonviolent drug offenses and pardoned approximately 2,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual veterans who were convicted years ago just for being themselves.”
With this in mind, the platform promises that the party will “take action to expunge federal marijuana-only convictions”, a move that’s supported by 61% of all Americans.
The platform also takes a swipe at Trump, saying his approach to criminal justice “could not be more different. His Administration threatened federal prosecution for marijuana cases in states where marijuana was legal.”
The platform “makes a strong statement about the historic work that President Biden and Vice President Harris have accomplished hand-in-hand, and offers a vision for a progressive agenda that we can build on as a nation and as a Party as we head into the next four years”, states a press release. “Following extensive engagements from the Platform Committee with communities across the country, hundreds of submissions of testimony through our Written Platform Testimony Portal, and countless conversations with community leaders from coalitions across the Democratic Party, the platform is reflective of the diverse perspectives and unifying values of the Democratic Party. Through this extensive and comprehensive process, the Committee produced a forward-looking vision for our Party.
You can read the full Democratic Party Platform here.
