At the Democratic National Convention last week, delegates approved a party platform that highlights President Joe Biden’s actions on marijuana reform — including his pardons and rescheduling efforts — and advocates for further expungement of prior marijuana convictions. However, unlike the 2020 platform, this version fails to promote broader cannabis law reform.
The final Democratic platform was approved by party delegates during the first day of the convention.
“No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possession has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” says the platform, repeating sentiments expressed by both Biden and presidential hopeful Vice President Kamala Harris.
It goes on to say that Democrats will be working to expunge those records as well.
At first glance, the Dems’ platform is heartening for cannabis advocates. The party appears to be supporting the decriminalization of marijuana — how else would someone describe a policy that doesn’t jail cannabis users? But it stops just short of suggesting decriminalization or of pushing for any significant reform.
Instead, it says: “We will combat drug trafficking and expand the use of drug courts, interventions, and diversion for people with substance use disorders.”
This is an about-face from the 2020 party platform that said: “Democrats will decriminalize marijuana use and reschedule it through executive action on the federal level. We will support legalization of medical marijuana, and believe states should be able to make their own decisions about recreational use.”
The platform also highlighted Biden’s federal pardons for simple marijuana possession and the administration’s efforts to reschedule the drug.
In comparison, the platform claims that Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump “threatened federal prosecution for marijuana cases in states where marijuana was legal.” It likely refers to Trump’s former attorney general Jeff Sessions’ decision to rescind the Cole Memorandum, which protected state-licensed cannabis operators from federal prosecution. Trump reportedly chastised Sessions for the move, however, and no legal cannabis businesses were targeted during his tenure as president. Subsequent Justice Department leaders, including those under the Biden administration, have not reinstated the memo.
Trump recently criticized Harris for putting “thousands and thousands of Black people in jail over marijuana.” This was in reference to her time as California attorney general and San Francisco district attorney before the state legalized weed.
Earlier this month, a series of polls from The Tarrance Group, a Republican research and polling firm, revealed that voters in the battleground states Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin overwhelmingly support cannabis law reform. The vast majority of respondents in all three states called for federal legalization of medical cannabis while the majority supported full legalization of recreational weed. Less than 20% said they wanted the drug to stay in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act and remain illegal.
There’s no clear motive for scaling back a popular policy that it committed to four years ago, especially considering the ousting of Biden as the Democratic nominee and his replacement with Harris.
Harris, unlike Biden, has a well-defined pro-legalization stance, having sponsored a comprehensive legalization bill in the Senate and advocating for legalization as recently as March in a private meeting with marijuana pardon recipients.
In a significant move, Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Walz is a strong supporter of cannabis reform, having endorsed numerous marijuana-related measures during his time in Congress and signed a comprehensive legalization bill into law as governor in 2023.
Some have questioned if the DNC even released the correct platform, since the 90-page document that was published last week had several mentions of a Biden “second term” and voiced support for his nonexistent campaign.
Meanwhile, the Republican platform makes no mention of cannabis in the slightest. It does mention “drugs,” but only in the context of securing the southern border and fighting cartel-driven drug trade. But Trump recently told reporters, “It’s awfully hard to have people all over the jails that are in jail right now for something that’s legal,” seemingly indicating that he was shifting his stance toward reform.