America needs consistency on marijuana
Good help is hard to find. President Biden should keep that in mind considering dozens of White House staffers are being disciplined, released and asked to resign for past marijuana use, according to several press reports.
Some of those facing discipline and expulsion are from states and localities where marijuana is legal. In addition, the administration had previously indicated that it would be loosening restrictions around past marijuana use, with NBC news reporting in February that waivers would be granted at the administration’s discretion for limited use of the drug in the past.
Assured by transition staff that Biden’s team was more understanding of recreational marijuana use than past White Houses have been, young staffers had disclosed marijuana use in documents that were part of their lengthy background checks, something standard for employees at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
But some of those same staffers were disappointed and frustrated when they were later suspended or asked to resign from their roles at the White House over long-past use of the drug.
The unfairness of the apparent turnaround especially stings when Vice President Kamala Harris openly talked about past marijuana use on the campaign trail, telling radio host Charlamagne tha God she has smoked, “and I did inhale,” she added, giggling.
It almost seems like the Biden administration’s policy on marijuana isn’t based on what you’ve done, but who you are.
The discrepancy highlights the ongoing inconsistency in public policy for marijuana use, as more and more states decriminalize the drug while it remains illegal at the federal level. Marijuana use continues to exist in a legal gray zone, frowned upon by many employers, while celebrated
The unfairness of the apparent turnaround especially stings when Vice President Kamala Harris openly talked about past marijuana use on the campaign trail.
by the rapidly growing and influential recreational industry.
With 14 states having made the drug fully legal, and more than half the country having at least decriminalized it, it is time for the federal government to act to create some sort of consistent policy as to its legal status. Rules for White House staffers are just the latest casualty in an ongoing problem that is felt acutely by many Americans unsure of what the rules are and what rights they have.
The states are the laboratories of democracy in our country, and as a nation we must adapt to the realities on the ground for many of our citizens. Congress must take steps to form a coherent federal approach to a drug that is no longer outlawed for many of our citizens, and the executive branch should publicly clarify what the rules are for their employees.
We many not all agree on what marijuana policy in this country ought to ultimately be, but it should be obvious that the American people deserve to know what the rules are, and we should all expect them to be applied consistently.