Joe Biden’s resolute stance against nationwide marijuana legalization continues to draw criticism in many quarters—as well as support from those who say his go-slow approach makes sense. Kevin Sabet, head of the organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana, commends the former vice president for siding with science, not politics. Writing in Newsweek, Sabet says every single medical association in the country backs Biden’s position, noting that today’s more potent pot can be dangerous—sending nearly 300,000 people to the emergency room each year and increasing traffic fatalities.
The real risk, he adds, is that Big Pot is now backed by a for-profit, Big Tobacco-style industry, which is pushing for legalization. Despite Biden’s moderate stance—he favors decriminalization, legalized medical pot, and letting states set their own policy on recreational—one Democratic Senator believes legalization would have the votes to pass in any case if Biden wins the White House and Democrats take the Senate. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts said that lawmakers would “move very quickly” on legalization if they have the votes despite Biden’s opposition, and would also put national protections in place, without elaborating on what those might be.
And finally, researchers are increasingly hopeful of finding new pain management solutions that do not involve highly addictive opioid painkillers, which led to the misuse of such drugs and the subsequent opioid epidemic. The novel approaches being investigated would target customized care rather than a one-pill cure-all for both acute and chronic pain as well as treating opioid addiction.