03-10-2025
For years, Democrats have used cannabis reform as a talking point—but what has Joe Biden actually done? After four years in office, his record on marijuana policy tells a stark story of broken promises and failed leadership.
During the 2020 presidential debates, Biden made a bold declaration to Senator Cory Booker: “I think we should decriminalize marijuana, period. I think anyone who has a record should be let out of jail, their records expunged, completely zeroed out.” The moment was electrifying. Booker’s expression reflected both pleasure and disbelief—Biden’s statement was a stark departure from his historically cautious stance on cannabis.
His promise ignited hope, especially for the families of the roughly 2,000 individuals still incarcerated for federal cannabis charges. At that moment, it seemed clear: both Democratic nominees in 2020 supported freeing these prisoners. Biden’s words galvanized the cannabis community—a community that, in many ways, helped push him to victory. But what happened next would prove that his promise was nothing more than political theater.
Biden’s Legacy on Cannabis: A History of Harm
1981-1995: Architect of Mass Incarceration
As a leader on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden pushed for harsher drug policies, helping to create the federal “drug czar” position to coordinate aggressive drug enforcement.
1984-1986: Expanding the Drug War
Co-authored the Comprehensive Control Act, expanding federal drug penalties and allowing police to seize property without proving guilt.
Co-sponsored the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, introducing mandatory minimum sentences and enforcing the infamous 100:1 crack vs. powder cocaine disparity, disproportionately targeting low-income and minority communities.
1988: Doubling Down
Helped craft the next Anti-Drug Abuse Act, establishing the Office of National Drug Control Policy to further entrench harsh drug enforcement policies.
1989: Calls for Even Harsher Penalties
Criticized President Bush’s Drug War escalation for not being tough enough, demanding more police, prosecutors, judges, and prison cells.
1994: The Crime Bill’s Devastation
Authored the 1994 Crime Bill, leading to mass incarceration by expanding police forces, building more prisons, and adding new federal death penalty provisions—including for drug-related offenses.
Bragged about the bill’s impact: “60 new death penalties,” “100,000 cops,” and “125,000 new state prison cells.”
2003: Targeting Raves and Drug Users
Sponsored the RAVE Act, punishing event organizers for drug-related offenses at their venues, leading to free speech concerns and harming harm-reduction efforts.
Biden’s Clemency: A Smokescreen for Inaction
Despite his campaign promises, Biden’s clemency efforts have been nothing more than symbolic gestures. Nearly all of the clemency grants he has issued were to individuals already eligible for relief under Donald Trump’s First Step Act, a bipartisan reform passed during Trump’s first term. Biden has done little to free those still languishing under outdated and draconian drug laws—laws he helped create.
Even more telling is Biden’s selective mercy. After spending decades fueling mass incarceration—especially for crack cocaine—he pardoned his own son, Hunter Biden, for the very same offense that put thousands of people, predominantly from marginalized communities, behind bars. Meanwhile, men like Edwin Rubis remain in prison, serving 40-year sentences for nonviolent marijuana offenses, despite nationwide legalization efforts and bipartisan calls for clemency.
A New Path Forward: Criminal Justice Reform Under Trump
Fast forward to President Trump’s second term in 2025—Trump has appointed Alice Marie Johnson as Pardon Czar, a major step forward for the criminal justice advocacy movement. Johnson , sentenced to life in prison is a first time offender was granted a pardon by Trump, I can tell you personally after serving 8 years in federal prison on cannabis charges, Alice Marie Johnson appointment to pardon Czar is unprecedented, no one knows the horrifying stories of draconian federal sentences like Ex-prisoners do.
Does this move signal that Trump is open to freeing cannabis prisoners? We believe so. As responsible criminal justice advocates, especially for those incarcerated on cannabis charges, we must be willing to embrace Trump’s policies when they align with fixing the broken federal prison system.
And that brings us to the final point of this article—one summed up by a simple but powerful truth:
“Sometimes help comes from unexpected places.
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