From ‘Drug War Joe’ to ‘Dank Brandon’: A Timeline of Biden and Weed

Though “Dank Brandon” memes be be proliferating on your timeline, don’t forget that President Biden has supported America’s war on drugs for decades; he even wrote many of the laws that helped build a punitive criminal justice system for marijuana offenders.

On Thursday, Biden announced on Twitter that he would pardon all people convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law. The move was met with acclaim from the majority of people (not everyone, though — Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas called it “a desperate attempt to distract from failed leadership”). GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina wrote, “Applaud the Administration for their necessary big step forward in bringing justice to so many.” Americans for Prosperity, the conservative political advocacy group funded by David and Charles Koch, released a statement praising the Biden administration. Democratic gubernatorial candidates Beto O’Rourke and Charlie Crist pledged that, if elected, they would follow Biden’s lead and expunge the records of those convicted of marijuana offenses in Texas and Florida, respectively. And Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman took a break from hammering his opponent Dr. Oz to tweet, “This is a BFD and a massive step towards justice. Thank you, Mr. President.”