My name is Jeremy Grove, inmate #32201-171 of the Special Housing Unit at Federal Correctional Institution Edgefield. I have been in our nation’s worst punishment unit (after using a cellphone while serving a five-year sentence for a cannabis-only crime) for nearly five months. My cellmate is serving 14 months less than I am for bringing 46 kilos of methamphetamines across the Mexican border into this country. My neighbor in the SHU is serving 43 years for armed bank robbery, kidnapping, and using a machine gun with a silencer during the crime.

I am not allowed to receive books, magazines, or newspapers. I have no access to T.V. or radio. The only news I receive comes in the form of articles printed out for me and mailed in letters by family members, friends, or fans. I was shocked and appalled when a fan of mine sent me Joe Biden’s official stance on marijuana laws for the upcoming election. His Obama-era stance of “let the states decide” and “decriminalization” simply do not cut it. As a victim of the federal government’s continued war on the most medicinally beneficial plant known to man, I firmly state: NO, JOE, YOUR PLAN IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. As a cannabis community, we should refuse his outdated stance, and we should demand he listen to his voter base as opposed to the deference he shows to big pharma and the current justice system. I can’t believe it’s 2020 and we, as a cannabis community, do not have a candidate that values and understands the importance of our substantial votes.

Decriminalization is a cop-out. Anyone who accepts this as a legitimate win for the cannabis world is flat out missing the point. As we have learned in places like Washington, D.C., even “legalization” without a seed-to-sale plan leaves way too much in law enforcement’s hands. Decriminalization attempts to pacify low-level cannabis users by promising them they won’t wind up with a criminal record for smoking pot. It misses the bigger picture completely. While decriminalizing possession of an ounce or less sounds nice, in actuality law enforcement can still confiscate your cannabis and give you a ticket similar to a parking ticket. Unless the user has some sort of magical weed fairy who leaves an ounce or less of cannabis on the nightstand every morning, someone they are buying their weed from will still be in possession of an amount worthy of criminal prosecution. Marijuana must still be grown, transported, and distributed for decriminalized smokers to use it. Decriminalization does not bring in tax revenue, does not end the need for street justice, does not stop the black market, does not stop them from taking your medicine, does not allow for medical research, and does not stop people from going to prison for a plant. Decriminalization is just a pretense. It’s a farce. It’s a flawed concept that doesn’t do enough for the cannabis community because it hardly does anything at all. So NO, JOE, DECRIMINALIZATION IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

I am a firm believer in states’ rights. I do believe that states should have the right to decide if cannabis should be illegal in the first place. The problem with Joe’s plan is that it doesn’t address the fact that federal law is what originally made states criminalize cannabis. While a memo during the Obama administration promised to block funding for federal prosecution of cannabis businesses abiding by state laws, this is far from a solid law or sustainable practice in the long term. Jeff Sessions already tried to undo this memo when he was Attorney General, and we can’t continue to leave such a giant industry in the hands of a mere memo.

Banking is also a huge deal in the legal cannabis industry. While states legalize, federal banks still shy away from the industry because of its Schedule 1 drug status. The correct approach would be to unschedule cannabis off the list and allow states to decide by voter initiative whether cannabis should be legal or otherwise. Once again, NO, JOE, LEAVING IT UP TO THE STATES IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Joe, it’s time to listen to your voters. According to numerous polls, over 70% of Democrats support the legalization of cannabis. Over 60% of all Americans support full legalization. An April 2017 Quinnipiac University poll showed that 94% support allowing adults to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if their doctor prescribes it. This percentage of people is similar to the number of Americans who believe the world is round. By keeping cannabis listed as a Schedule 1 drug with no medicinal value, you are essentially broadcasting to the world that the American policy is that the Earth is flat. Good job, Joe. It’s 2020. It’s time to step out of the racist, bigoted propaganda that made cannabis illegal in the first place and accept that it does have medicinal value. Your voters don’t believe the lies anymore, Joe, and neither should you. The Earth is round and medical marijuana both exists and benefits the many who use it.

Joe, we should be working together. The cannabis community is dying to have a candidate to believe in and to vote for, one that has out interests at heart. While your stance protects big pharma from fighting against legitimate medical research on cannabis and continues to allow the DEA and the rest of the federal justice system to send fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins, and friends to prison for mandatory minimum sentences that include life in prison, it is those of us in prison who are the victims of your continued stance. The victims are the cannabis businesses that get robbed because they can’t put money in the bank. The victims are those slain from street justice that happens because you can’t call the cops. The victims are the communities that are missing out on tax dollars. These are the victims of your stance on cannabis, Joe. I beg you to reconsider your stance and listen to your voters. Take cannabis off the Schedule 1 list and allow legitimate research to be conducted instead of research that only benefits the government’s stance. How can you leave something that many doctors believe not only alleviates the symptoms of cancer but even helps cure certain types, something that has been shown to drastically increase the quality of life for children with epilepsy, on a list of drugs shown to have no medicinal value? The Earth is round, Joe. Medical marijuana exists, Joe. NO, JOE, I DO NOT ACCEPT YOUR STANCE ON MARIJUANA.

As a member of the cannabis community and as someone who deeply believes in its benefits, I ask my fellow brothers and sisters to consider what I have said here. I know change takes time and we have already come a long way. As I sit in prison for what we all love, I hold no regret. I serve my sentence proud that I am a part of a bigger movement. Since I have been incarcerated, the love and support I have received have been incredible. We must stand together and fight, we must demand a voice in the most important office in the United States. No matter who wins the election, it is time for us to be heard. Policies like decriminalization and allowing states to decide while continuing to classify cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, denying bank protections, and continuing federal prosecution is not even close to good enough. We can do better if we demand better. Together we can change the world.