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Notes -
President Biden has announced new executive action (... on twitter):
There are some big, and not always obvious, caveats here. There are very few federal prisoners for simple possession, and most of those are border-related cases where the person will (or would normally) end up deported afterward. Leaving sale, manufacturing, and distribution charges and convictions alone is more tenable at the federal level, where most thresholds are high in practice, but it still leaves a lot of sympathetic cases in prison or with serious criminal records for what is often a bullshit crime. Even if state jurisdictions follow along, lower state and local thresholds for distribution or intent-to-distribute will have far less impact than the eye-popping numbers pot legalization advocates bring. Many of the jurisdictions not already seriously considering decriminalizing pot offenses at the state level are unlikely to find this Call On Governors very persuasive; while there is a crossover component, some Red Tribe-leaning states may consider the political nature of this call legitimate cause to adopt wait-and-see approaches at best. The overlap between pot and general soft-on-crime aren't perfect, but it's not non-existent, either.
And it's hard not to see the timing as political: this was a campaign promise, held off for over a year and a half. While a lot of friendly reporting points to requests from other politicians, that doesn't actually make it less political, even were it not their midterm election season.
On the other hand, there's limits to how much I can complain about someone doing a good thing for selfish reasons. I am not a fan of marijuana, and marijuana legalization advocates tend to get incredibly unrealistic promises for the benefits and ignorance of the costs of legalization or decriminalization. It's hard to see the drug as safer than vaping, for another matter the FDA has crusaded against recently, even for optimistic reads on the risks of schizophrenia or lung disease. But it's also very hard to consider most federal or state extant rules good on their own merits, or even legitimate uses of government power. And, notably, this route has been available to other Presidents, who had similar political benefits (and risks), and who did not take it.
((If it actually happens; announcing a policy on Twitter does not implement it. It's quite possible that the actual real-world version runs into stumbling blocks -- a Biden pardon series is unlikely to face the sort of legal friction a Trump one would, but there's no shortage of unsympathetic prisoners and very unpleasant border cases. Bulk pardons aren't unprecedented, but they may be rough in practice here. And this would easily dwarf those past examples; this isn't quite nullifying a federal statute, but it's a lot closer than anything done in the past.))
The other interesting side is this taking so long to happen. There's a lot of good reasons to be skeptical of policy polls on the matter, but support for decriminalization is one matter that's replicated fairly well in actual referendums and ballots. This is a place where federal legislative action is plausible, and also largely unexplored entirely. The actual FDA rulemaking is a charlie foxtrot waiting to happen -- emphasis on the wait, as I'm skeptical it goes anywhere in a year -- but the power of the pardon is broad. It's understandable that major politicians are less likely to have inhaled than the average American, but it's not like President Obama or Clinton were strong pot advocates, and in turn Biden's historically been almost as skeptical as Trump was.
Credit where credit is due- this is a step in the right direction. I dislike Biden strongly but I agree with this.
Also, it was nice to see him share the podium in Florida with Desantis during the hurricane.
Also, I think it was a class act for Biden to personally call Peter Doocy from Fox news and apologize for calling him a "son of a bitch." It made Biden relatable in that moment, almost likable even.
Again, I dislike Biden strongly but it's important to recognize what he gets right, if only to combat one's own cognitive bias.
I think the reality is that for whatever I'm inclined to say about his politics and corruption, he probably is basically relatable and likeable. His political success sure and hell doesn't come from being the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's a master of winning friends and influencing people. At bottom, he probably is exactly the kind of guy that would get frustrated with someone, call them a stupid son of bitch, then cool down later and call them to say, "hey, sorry about that, it really isn't personal, you just pissed me off".
If you watch old speeches of Bidens he comes off quite eloquent and intelligence. It’s only now that he has dementia. He’s not rocket scientist smart but he had the ability Desantis has of having content laden speeches with fire.
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