The presidential campaign is about to enter the heart of the primary season in the next few months. While President Joe Biden will clearly be his party’s candidate come November, many think he’s missing a chance to shore up support by not calling for cannabis legalization in the United States.

Right now, residents must grapple with a patchwork quilt of cannabis legalization laws across the nation that change depending on the state a person lives in. In some states, laws can change city by city. It makes Americans criminals for buying a legal product in one state and then driving into another.

Cannabis advocates say Biden could increase his support among young voters by supporting legalization. However, to this point he has only supported decriminalization and asked the Justice Department to review the scheduling of cannabis. It’s currently listed as a Schedule I illegal drug at the national level, on par with cocaine and heroin. The Drug Enforcement Administration is currently reviewing the issue.

“This is a popular issue that motivates voters, and it doesn’t just motivate –  it clearly just doesn’t motivate [exclusively] Democrats. And…that will be critical this fall,” Hayley Matz Meadvin, executive vice president of communications at Precision Strategies and a former Biden administration staffer, told The Hill.

Cannabis Legalization Could Sway Voters in a Tight Presidential Race

Most polls find Biden and Donald Trump, his likely opponent in the election, in a neck-and-neck race for the White House. Trump was president from 2016 to 2020 and still has strong support among Republicans. Cannabis advocates believe Biden’s team needs to realize they can sway votes with cannabis legalization.

Cannabis legalization in the U.S. certainly has public support if the polls are accurate. The most recent Gallup poll to ask about the issue in the fall of 2023 found that 70% of the country’s population support some form of legalization.

Progressive lawmakers in the U.S. Senate urged the Biden Administration in a letter to go beyond his current scheduling review and completely deschedule the drug. It’s a move that would effectively decriminalize cannabis, which would lead to a reduction in penalties and restrictions. Signers of the letter included Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Chuck Schumer of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

The letter stated that “marijuana’s placement in the [Controlled Substances Act] has had a devastating impact on our communities and is increasingly out of step with state law and public opinion,” The Hill reported.

The Argument to Push for Legalization in 2024

In an opinion piece on the issue, The Guardian made a succinct argument for the president to push for legalization. “As President Joe Biden looks to boost his reelection campaign and lousy poll numbers, there’s one policy position that is popular with voters, could help unite Democrats and would leave Republicans scrambling to respond. It’s time he came out in support of legalizing recreational use of marijuana.”

The Guardian equated cannabis legalization to gay marriage legalization, which happened when Biden was vice president under President Barack Obama. Much like popular opinion on that issue, the country’s take on legal cannabis has evolved and changed.

Nine nations now have legal cannabis at the national level. The latest is Germany, where lawmakers recently approved a law making recreational cannabis legal. Canada has had national legal cannabis since 2018. While the issue has strong support among Democrats and Independents, many Republicans remain opposed in both the Senate and House.