The tradition of treating past cannabis use as a terminable offense leaves the Biden administration out of step with public opinion.
As President Biden presses ahead with his agenda, Republicans are turning more attention to immigration and “cancel culture” — a 21st-century retrofit of the so-called culture wars, which Republicans often use to retain support when their party is out of power in Washington.
But within the White House, the Biden administration has a culture war of its own on its hands. And it’s left many of the president’s political allies scratching their heads.
On Friday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, confirmed that five staff members had lost their jobs because they used marijuana in the past — even though the administration had previously told incoming staffers that prior use of cannabis wouldn’t immediately disqualify them. A number of other staff members remain employed on a work-from-home basis while their history of marijuana use is evaluated.
It came as a surprise to many proponents of marijuana legalization, which is now more popular than ever before. Mr. Biden has long been relatively conservative when it comes to drug policy, and he has never endorsed full legalization, but his plans for criminal-justice reform include the decriminalization of marijuana and a number of other policies to de-escalate the war on drugs, which is in its 50th year. [Read More @ The NY Times]
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