It’s nice to see John Fetterman burn something other than Dr. Mehmet Oz, his GOP opponent for one of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate seats. It was starting to look like he was addicted to snark-weed. And they say burning Oz is a gateway to blazing far more hardcore thugs, like Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz, so it could get “worse.”
Of course, we don’t know that Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s current lieutenant governor, bakes himself like a Christmas ham on Keystone State high holidays, but he’s certainly 420-friendly. In advance of President Joe Biden’s visit to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Fetterman is calling on Dark Brandon to flip the script and embrace cannabis decriminalization.
He didn’t mince words.
For the nontweeters:
Braddock, PA — Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman on Monday called on President Joe Biden to use his existing authority to deschedule marijuana from its classification as a Schedule I drug and work to decriminalize marijuana.
“It’s long past time that we finally decriminalize marijuana,” said Fetterman. “The president needs to use his executive authority to begin descheduling marijuana. I would love to see him do this prior to his visit to Pittsburgh. This is just common sense and Pennsylvanians overwhelmingly support decriminalizing marijuana.
“I don’t want to hear any bullshit coming out of Dr. Oz’s campaign trying to conflate decriminalizing marijuana with seriously harmful crime. Are we supposed to believe that neither he nor any members of his staff have ever used marijuana? As mayor of Braddock, I made it my mission to combat serious crime. I know firsthand what real crime looks like. Marijuana does not fit the bill. It’s time to end the hypocrisy on this issue once and for all.”
While Biden has indicated a willingness to pursue cannabis decriminalization in the past, it’s never really seemed like his heart’s been in it. He’s always seemed like more of a molly-and-all-night-rave sort of fellow, rather than a stoned-in-the-park kinda guy. In July, several Democratic senators sent Biden a letter calling on his administration to “use its existing authority to (i) deschedule cannabis and (ii) issue pardons to all individuals convicted of nonviolent cannabis-related offenses,” but so far, anyway, the administration has failed to act.
Though to be fair, Biden said in July that his administration was “working on” amnesty for for those convicted of cannabis “crimes.”
Cannabis, which causes zero overdose deaths per year, nevertheless remains a Schedule I drug, along with substances such as heroin, that the federal government says have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Examples of supposedly less dangerous Schedule II drugs include cocaine, meth, oxycodone, and fentanyl. Because everyone would prefer to see their loved ones snort fentanyl to relax instead of smoking a joint on the patio.
In April, the Democratic-controlled House passed a pot decriminalization bill, and Senate Democrats introduced their own version in July. That bill was apparently dead on arrival, given the Democrats’ razor-thin Senate majority and the looming specter of the democracy-killing filibuster.
Yet Senate Republicans are failing, once again, to read the room. A whopping 19 states—plus Washington, D.C., and Guam—already have legalized recreational cannabis since Colorado became the first in 2012, sparking the creation of the 2013 Cole Memorandum, in which the Department of Justice declared it was “deferring its right to challenge [states’] legalization laws.” Another 19 states have legalized medical cannabis.
Jeff Sessions, who served as Donald Trump’s first attorney general, rescinded the Cole Memo in 2018, and it didn’t go well, as Daily Kos noted at the time. Sessions met intense bipartisan resistance, and ultimately backed off.
In November, six more states, mostly red ones—both Dakotas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Maryland—are voting to legalize recreational cannabis, according to CNN.
… a record high percentage of Americans (over two-thirds, per Gallup) say they favor legalization of recreational marijuana. Ballot measures to legalize recreational marijuana have passed in blue states (e.g., New Jersey), purple states (e.g., Arizona) and red states (e.g., Montana) in recent years.
This year, we shouldn't be amazed if it passes in other blue states such as Maryland and even red states such as South Dakota. Again, this would be shocking if you had said so about 50 years ago.
Only 12% were in favor marijuana legalization in 1969. As recently as a decade ago, the country was split down the middle on marijuana legalization in Gallup polling.
The times have certainly changed.
So now it’s time for President Biden to use his executive power to introduce some long-overdue common sense into our drug laws.
Not sure if Middle-Class Joe—or even Dark Brandon—is up to the task, but without question, Dank Brandon is ready to rise.
Fetterman has shown himself to be a pretty savvy campaigner, and he appears to know where Pennsylvanians—and other Americans—stand on this issue. More than two-thirds of Americans now favor legal weed, likely because they’ve spent the past 10 years sampling dispensaries’ wares and conspicuously not turning into face-eating maniacs.
It’s also nice to see Fetterman fire a warning shot over Oz’s bow. After all, the last guy who should be scolding us about dangerous drugs is Oz, Donald Trump’s loyal and fawning subject. At least we know weed works, and the profits from its sale don’t go into a multimillionaire quack’s pocket.
Someone alert Oprah: It’s about time Jay and Silent Bob get their own daytime talk show.
John Fetterman is essential to building upon the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. Chip in a few bucks to help his campaign!
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.