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| Friend, The White House recently confirmed that it fired five staffers because they admitted to past marijuana use despite previous announcements that it wouldn’t do that. Biden is reverting back to harmful drug war policies that have robbed too many people of their livelihoods. We can’t let this stand: take action and tell Biden to stop denying people employment based on drug use! Firing people for marijuana use is a major step backwards from an administration that claims to support federal marijuana decriminalization. With overwhelming public support for marijuana legalization and as more and more states legalize, it’s clear that the White House’s recent actions are completely out of step with the rest of the country. But this is not just about marijuana. From the White House to the local fast food joint and everything in between, the drug war is being waged in many workplaces with discriminatory policies that deny or terminate employment based on drug use. Since the declaration of the ‘war on drugs’ fifty years ago, punishment for drug use has gone far beyond arrests and incarceration with grave harm in terms of employment and other critical systems. Our newly released project, Uprooting the Drug War, shows how these exclusionary practices are all too common and affect all of us. The flawed idea that people who use drugs cannot be good employees was planted at the very inception of the modern drug war despite any evidence connecting drug use to poor job performance. These harmful policies have denied people one of the primary and critical factors associated with a reduction in drug use and potential negative consequences of drug use — access to stable employment. A majority of the policies we have in place today that consistently deny employment to people for drug use, arrests or convictions — and disproportionately impact people of color — started with the federal government and Ronald Reagan’s initiative to ensure ‘a drug-free workplace at all levels of government and in the private sector.’ It’s disappointing to see Biden backtracking and continuing the disastrous drug war policies of the past, but he can and should change direction. Please urge Biden to end the cycle and stop using drug use as an excuse to deny people employment. Sincerely, Maritza Perez Director, National Affairs Drug Policy Alliance |
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