United States: Vice-President Kamala Harris will draw up criminals exculpated for marijuana offenses for rapper Fat Joe and others on Friday to discuss their drug law reforms. As well she and President Joseph Biden try to meet voters that are struggling with drug cases, as reported by Reuters.
High-Profile Meeting
Harris will have a talk-shop session with Fat Joe, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Steve Benjamin (White House Director of Public Engagement), and others. Biden just took the position to represent the Democrats, and he now stands a chance to persuade people that he deserves the job for another four years, considering that some are not satisfied with his slow pace of policy reforms.
It is a fact that the USA locks up more convicts than any other nation. Of the 1 in 5 of the nearly two million people, half of them incarcerated are for fulfillment of drug-related charges.
Youth Advocacy and Democratic Support
The majority of those sentenced are Black and Latino people who are incarcerated more than other racial groups. At the same time, drug law reform is preferred to almost any other issue by young people. Each constituency favors Democrats.
Biden Signals Shift in Marijuana Policy
Biden, who has occasionally drawn flak from the activists for his hawkish approach to narcotics, has nonetheless called for marijuana to be treated with more lenience under federal jurisdiction and has pardoned for all those convicted of mere possession of the mind-altering plant, as reported by Reuters.
He brought both views up during his State of the Union speech last week that, making it the first time a president ever reached out about casual marijuana policy during an address to the congress.