White House hopeful Joseph R. Biden said Monday that he does not believe marijuana is a gateway drug, a little more than a week since the former vice president sparked criticism from fellow Democrats for saying science might suggest otherwise.
“I don’t think it is a gateway drug,” Mr. Biden said about marijuana during a conference call with reporters. “There’s no evidence I’ve seen that suggests that.”
Mr. Biden argued days earlier that he opposes federally legalizing marijuana because scientists are not certain whether people who use pot are subsequently inclined to try hard drugs, however.
“There’s not nearly been enough evidence that has been acquired as to whether or not it is a gateway drug,” Mr. Biden said on Nov. 16. “It’s a debate, and I want a lot more — before I legalize it nationally — I want to make sure we know a lot more about the science behind it.”
Mr. Biden has faced flak in the interim from fellow Democrats comparatively more progressive with respect to their stance on marijuana legalization, including fellow 2020 hopeful Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, among others.
“I thought you might have been high when you said it,” Mr. Booker said to Mr. Biden during the Democratic presidential debate last week. “Marijuana in our country is already legal for privileged people, and the war on drugs has been a war on black and brown people.”
“These are Reagan-era talking points that were behind one of the worst and most shameful phases of American policy, which is mass incarceration,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said about Mr. Biden’s initial “gateway drug” remark. “That needs to end, marijuana needs to be legalized, drugs need to be decriminalized for consumption.”
Marijuana is federally prohibited on account of being categorized as a Schedule 1 drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, but most states have passed laws legalizing the plant for medicinal or recreational purposes.
About two-thirds of Americans support legalizing marijuana, a recent Pew Research Center study found this month. The results of a separate study released by Gallup weeks earlier concluded similarly.
All 2020 Democratic presidential front-runners support decriminalizing marijuana to some degree, meanwhile, including Mr. Biden.
Speakers to reporters Monday, he said that he that it should be “totally decriminalized,” that anyone who has been convicted of a related offense should have their record “wiped totally clean” and that anyone imprisoned for consuming pot should be released immediately.
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