The White House on Thursday praised the Justice Department‘s step toward reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III under federal law as a way to counter racial injustice.
Downgrading marijuana will remove “barriers to critical research,” according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. It will also build on pardons and sentence commutations Biden has provided to people convicted for federal and Washington, D.C., offenses of simple possession, which has lifted other “barriers” to housing to small business loans.
“The reality is while white, black, and brown people use marijuana, black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionately higher rates,” Jean-Pierre told reporters Thursday. “The president’s actions today further his commitment to reverse long-standing injustices and to right historical wrongs.”
The announcement comes as the White House steps up its outreach to black voters who are critical to his 2024 reelection hopes but who have expressed concern over Biden’s presidency in recent polls. This week, the White House touted more than $16 billion in support for historically black colleges and universities and marked the anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that struck down institutionalized racial segregation in public schools. Biden will then deliver the commencement address at historically black college Morehouse College this weekend.
Biden and officials from his administration have been confronted with pro-Palestinian protests during public appearances since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel.
White House Office of Public Engagement Director Steve Benjamin, who met with Morehouse College students last week before Biden’s remarks, underscored Biden’s support of free speech.
“The right to free speech extends, even those who protest,” Benjamin told reporters during Jean-Pierre’s briefing. “As long as they’re peaceful protests, as long as they don’t disrupt the amazing moment it is for the graduates, we’ll consider it a success.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris shared videos on social media marking the Drug Enforcement Administration‘s submitting a notice of proposed rulemaking to the Federal Register, which starts a 60-day comment period.
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“Far too many lives have been upended because of a failed approach to marijuana,” Biden said in his video.
