The Slippery Slope - Calls to decriminalize marijuana follow in the wake of rescheduling

by Wyoming Liberty Group

Recently, about 150 social workers called for President Biden to decriminalize marijuana.

Why should we care in Wyoming?

Well, for at least one good reason: Beware of the slippery slope.

Yes, that's right. First, Biden pushed to have his administration reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, the first such move in half a century to designate the mind-altering drug as a less dangerous substance. As it stands, according to a fact sheet from the Drug Enforcement Administration, marijuana "has a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision."

But the Biden administration wants to change all of that, easing up on marijuana, placing it in a category of drugs "with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence," according to the DEA's description of the lesser designation. That would place marijuana in the same category of drugs as, say, Tylenol with codeine.

Big difference.

But the problem doesn't end there. Now that the president is pushing for this shift, pro-pot forces want more—they want the federal government to fully decriminalize pot.

Which harkens to another truism: Give them an inch and they'll take a mile. This, by the way, comes straight out of the marijuana industry playbook. For years, they broke down the door, seeking to legitimize weed by getting voters to approve it as "medical," which it isn't.

But now this. In their letter to President Biden, the 148 social workers said it wasn't enough to downgrade marijuana as a less dangerous drug. They went so far as to say there is a "critical need for decriminalization."

The social workers then turned to oft-repeated arguments by pro-pot forces. "The criminalization of marijuana has torn apart families, with overwhelmingly disparate impact in communities of color. If marijuana remains scheduled under the CSA [Controlled Substances Act], the individual and collective suffering caused by prohibition will continue growing."

In a press release about the social workers' letter, a senior policy advisor for the National Association of Social Workers, double-downed, saying, "In its decision to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug, the Biden Administration is misguided if it thinks it is righting a wrong. On the contrary, such a rescheduling decision actually perpetuates an injustice. Therefore, social workers must urge President Biden to reconsider its current position by fully decriminalizing marijuana."

By the way, it should come as no surprise that there are powerful pro-pot forces working in concert with the social workers. That includes the Drug Policy Alliance—otherwise known as the DPA—the George Soros-backed group that has been the driving force behind the legalization of marijuana throughout the nation.

For the moment, let's leave aside that the DPA is working behind the scenes or that you can get about 150 people to sign almost anything. But let's not overlook the hyperbole. Let's not forget, for instance, that marijuana is already legal for so-called medical use in about three-fourths of the country, while adult-use—or so-called "recreational" marijuana—is legal in nearly half of all the states.

What's more, the move to legalize marijuana has prompted many in law enforcement to acknowledge that they have stopped arresting people for pot. It's just not a political priority, especially in progressive places. Indeed, many localities are already moving to release people from prisons for pot offenses.

As for the arguments about racial justice, some facts are often overlooked by pro-pot forces. One of those facts is that the marijuana industry has been criticized for doing little in terms of social equity. In fact, in many cases, the pot industry has placed pot shops in vulnerable communities of color.

And let's not forget a big point—that, regardless of race, marijuana causes significant harm to human health. The toll from marijuana is widespread: Respiratory illnesses. Brain development among teenagers. Psychotic breaks. Drugged-driving accidents. ER visits. Suicides. The awful list goes on and on—despite the Biden administration's ill-advised move to shift marijuana to a less dangerous category of drugs.

For us in Wyoming, there are severe consequences to all of this politicking unfolding far from our borders in the nation's capital. We've spent years successfully stopping pro-pot forces from entering Wyoming. But if marijuana is legalized federally, there will be no stopping the dangerous drug.