As the two leading presidential candidates are being scrutinized for their seemingly age-related foibles, no matter which one wins the White House in 2024, he will be the oldest person ever elected to the job, a record President Biden had previously set in 2020.
Joe Biden (81) and Donald Trump (77) are now (or will be) surrounded by colleagues of similar age, which has become a concern for some voters who would like to see the torch passed to a qualified candidate, specifically a non-octogenarian.
While it’s far more than cannabis reform voters are concerned about, it has become an important issue judging from a November 2023 Gallup Poll, which found that seven in 10 Americans think marijuana use should be legal.
Lost Opportunities
Both Biden and Trump have had opportunities to attract voters by legalizing or otherwise reforming cannabis laws but have chosen to only take baby steps or pay lip service to the issue.
The Biden Administration made news in August when health officials recommended that the DEA loosen restrictions on cannabis by reclassifying it from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug, leading to speculation of legalization or decriminalization.
With the now famous cannabis rescheduling option being overseen by the DEA, the 50-year-old agency that brought us the War on Drugs, has made clear to Congress and the world that it alone has “final authority” over rescheduling marijuana and will get to it when and how it finishes conducting its own internal review.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump told an interviewer last spring that even though marijuana does “significant damage,” he acknowledged that “from a voting standpoint, it’s [legalization is] a pretty popular thing.”
In April 2023, the former Republican president told a National Rifle Association meeting that the uptick in mass shootings across the country was “not a gun problem” but rather that “genetically engineered” cannabis and the trans community could be at fault and should therefore be investigated.
In addition to his hot-and-cold attitude toward legalization, Trump has called for the death penalty for drug dealers on various occasions, despite having pardoned several people convicted of selling drugs before he left office in January 2021.
So, Where Does That Leave Us?
While both candidates, regardless of their age, could show some wisdom and boost their party’s voter turnout by getting serious about real cannabis reform, most likely neither of them will do that. So, why not vote for the guy who reflects your other values and hope that cannabis legalization will soon follow?
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