Mark Davis: Biden’s pot pardons are fine, but states like Texas shouldn’t rush to legalization

Early poll results indicate that a broad majority of Americans support the decision by President Joe Biden to pardon roughly 6,500 people convicted of federal marijuana possession charges. I am among those steadfastly opposed to recreational pot legalization, yet I can appreciate the possible value of this decision.

While I lament the gradual legalization working its way across the American landscape, I do not believe people should be hit with lengthy jail terms for mere possession. And it has always seemed odd for the federal government to be concerning itself with pot charges.

There is only one federal marijuana law that makes sense — the one that makes it illegal to bring it into the country. Beyond that, it should be up to the states to determine what the punishment should be for cultivation and possession. Several states have chosen to legalize recreational pot, while others have cleared the way only for medicinal use.

As we will now properly see in the example of abortion laws, the states will be a patchwork reflecting the values of their people. Pot dispensaries will continue to sprout along the Pacific coast; in Texas, not so much.

Gov. Greg Abbott displays no inclination for broadening weed legalization in Texas, and certainly no hint of echoing Biden with marijuana pardons in the Lone Star State. He has, however, expressed support for reducing penalties for possession of small amounts.

The whole federal pardon story invites some questions. How many people are actually in federal prison for simple possession of small amounts? And should marijuana be bounced from the harshness of Schedule 1 of the federal Controlled Substances Act, where it is found alongside heroin and LSD?

Pardoning those offenders and getting the federal government out of the business of adjudicating personal drug use will simplify those matters. So, then what happens? Does the current trend of legalization across various states mean that weed is losing its societal stigma?

It obviously is. Majorities across almost all age groups favor at the very least a reduction in penalties for marijuana offenses. But that does not mean the entire country is in the mood to abandon the lessons embraced over many generations — that pot carries dangers and health risks, especially for the young.

Legalization advocates will always point to alcohol, suggesting hypocrisy on the part of anyone who drinks a beer while fighting to keep marijuana illegal. But every decision citizens make on what to allow and disallow will be arbitrary to some degree. America tried to make alcohol illegal; it didn’t work. The question that follows is: How does legalization of more intoxicants make society better?

In some states, voters have decided they want legal recreational weed. While the stoners are happy and law enforcement is no longer saddled with finding a joint in their pockets, problems abound.

Thriving black markets still seek to undercut dispensary prices. Roads are less safe with the addition of drivers impaired by THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana. Some states are noticing usage increases in kids younger than 17 as the messaging against marijuana erodes. Kids are winding up in emergency rooms after finding grandpa’s edibles. And the promised benefits of lower crime rates don’t seem to be materializing.

Are states seeing a drip of tax revenue from legal pot? Sure, but as with legalized casinos, opponents will gladly forgo those dollars to avoid the costly negatives.

The wide range of policies among the states makes the case for de-federalizing the matter. The people of Oregon and Alabama do not view the issue in the same way, and they have the proper expectation of an environment where their preferred laws are enacted. If the Biden pardons make the case for avoiding jail time as a sentence for simple possession, that may be an example states choose to follow.

Or not. It’s their call. Washington has enough to worry about. The greatest benefit of the Biden pardons may prove to be the lesson that it’s time to get the federal government out of the business of what Americans do with marijuana.

This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 8:03 AM with the headline "Mark Davis: Biden’s pot pardons are fine, but states like Texas shouldn’t rush to legalization."