“Trump and Biden Backed Easing Marijuana Policy. What Happened?”

The title of this post is the title of this notable new New York Times piece with this subheadline: “Removing marijuana from the government’s most restrictive class of drugs had rare bipartisan support last year. But the D.E.A. slowed the effort and legal challenges followed.”  I recommend the article in full, and here is how it starts:

For the first time in generations, a major overhaul of federal drug policy appeared imminent.

During his final year in office, former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. moved to downgrade marijuana from the government’s most restrictive class of drugs. The change would not legalize recreational cannabis under federal law, but would remove it from a category that includes heroin and make it easier for scientists to study marijuana’s therapeutic uses.

Donald J. Trump, then a candidate for president, endorsed the idea last September, shortly before the presidential election, saying it stood to “unlock the medical uses of marijuana.”

But a few months into Mr. Trump’s new term in the White House, the push to move cannabis to a less restrictive category has effectively ground to a halt.

Here are some additional excerpts:

Anthony Coulson, a former senior D.E.A. agent who remains close to former colleagues, said that agency leaders, who historically have opposed moving marijuana to a less strict drug category, pursued a drawn-out process that effectively thwarted Mr. Biden’s goal. The agency’s approach led to legal challenges from groups that wanted more lenient cannabis regulations, further slowing the process. “Cannabis reform appears to be all but dead in this administration,” said Mr. Coulson, who favors cannabis rescheduling but opposes legalizing its recreational use. “To use a Trump term, it was rigged not to succeed.”…

The president’s new pick to lead the D.E.A., Terry Cole, left little doubt about his stance on cannabis in a social media post last year, when he alluded to the Reagan-era antidrug campaign, “Just Say No.” During a confirmation hearing last month, Mr. Cole said that he would make a top priority of assessing where the rescheduling process stands, but he declined to say whether the agency still intended to reschedule marijuana.

For their part, supporters of rescheduling have turned to an unconventional tactic. American Rights and Reform, a political action committee that supports legalizing cannabis, recently launched an elaborate television ad campaign aimed at news shows Mr. Trump is known to watch. One ad warns that Canadian cannabis companies are getting an unfair advantage, which Mr. Trump could address, the ad says, by rescheduling the drug.

Another aims to appeal to Mr. Trump’s assertion that some federal workers undermine presidents, a phenomenon he calls the “deep state.” “Joe Biden’s D.E.A.’s deep state kept cannabis illegal,” the ad says. “President Donald Trump has beat the deep state before and now Trump can finish what he started.”