It definitely needs to be decriminalized but that’ll actually take an act of Congress
There’s other ways to try, Biden just won’t.
Although the President may not unilaterally deschedule or reschedule a controlled substance, he does possess a large degree of indirect influence over scheduling decisions. The President could pursue the appointment of agency officials who favor descheduling, or use executive orders to direct DEA, HHS, and FDA to consider administrative descheduling of marijuana. The notice-and-comment rulemaking process would take time, and would be subject to judicial review if challenged, but could be done consistently with the CSA’s procedural requirements. In the alternative, the President could work with Congress to pursue descheduling through an amendment to the CSA.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10655
But the House passed a bill to deschedule in 2022, and Biden’s whole deal in the last primary was how well he could get Republican senators on board with Dem legislation.
He couldn’t.
But going back full circle:
Why did Biden promise to deschedule if there’s no way he can deschedule?
To the full-circle thing, I’m not sure what the point is. There was no explicit deadline. Promises by politicians to assert their position have been used since forever. It doesn’t change the fact there are obstructions to their good intentions. If I promise something and someone blocks me from viably pursuing it, that’s not on me, that’s on them: Republicans.
And if they approach it the wrong way, as quoted material suggests, it risks being thrown out by the conservative court making future attempts possibly more difficult.
If I promise something and someone blocks me from viably pursuing it, that’s not on me, that’s on them: Republicans.
If I promise my kid a trip to their favorite amusement park and then don’t get the big bonus I expected from work to afford it, it’s not my jobs fault the kid didn’t go to the park. It’s my fault for making a promise and not finding a way to follow through.
If I promise my kid a trip to their favorite amusement park and then don’t get to go because Republicans blew up every bridge along the way to the amusement park, which also flooded because of Climate Change, then that’s on Republicans, not me.
