Name: Rep. Mondaire Jones admits past weed use while calling on Biden to reverse pot-related White House firings
Brand: nydailynews.com
SKU: nydailynews-com-885
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Rep. Mondaire Jones admits past weed use while calling on Biden to reverse pot-related White House firings

preview

AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsMar 26, 2021 at 6:17 pmRep. Mondaire Jones isn’t beating around the bush when it comes to cannabis.The freshman New York Democrat, who’s pushing President Biden to reverse a string of recent pot-related firings of White House staffers, admitted Friday that he has smoked marijuana and said it makes no sense for Biden or any other employer to consider weed toking a fireable offense.Advertisement“I have in the past smoked marijuana. I do not currently smoke marijuana, but if I did it wouldn’t be a problem,” Jones said in an interview with the Daily News after sending to Biden with 29 other House Democrats calling for the axed staffers to be reinstated.White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed last week that at least five staffers were sacked for admitting to past marijuana use. Sources told , which first reported the dismissals, that dozens more staffers, most of them in their 20s and 30s, have been suspended or placed in a remote work program due to similar admissions.AdvertisementNone of the affected staffers have been publicly identified, and Jones said he doesn’t know any of them.But Jones said the marijuana-inspired reprimands are hypocritical.“Prior presidents of the United States and the current vice president have admitted to prior marijuana use,” Jones said, referring to former President Barack Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris.Marijuana is legal for medical and recreational use or both in 36 states, with many more, , about to join that list.As long as it’s kept out of the immediate workplace, Jones said weed doesn’t impair “one’s ability to perform a job or trustworthiness.”He also said the pot-related axings do not blend well with Biden’s pledge to promote social justice and noted that there’s a historical context of Black and Hispanic Americans often facing harsher consequences for marijuana than whites.“A policy at the White House of punishing prior use of marijuana despite a staffer’s qualifications — that is beyond dissonant,” he said. “This is simply an old school retrograde policy that flies in the face of the president’s commitments.”A White House spokesman did not return a request for comment, and Jones said he and his fellow House Dems had not heard from Biden as of late Friday in response to their letter.AdvertisementOther signees on the letter include Jones’ fellow New York Reps. Nydia Velazquez and Adriano Espaillat.The letter struck a similar tone to Jones’ comments, and also noted that Biden has a chance to send a powerful message by refraining from punishing staffers for cannabis use.“A cannabis conviction or even the stigma of cannabis use can ruin lives and prevent people from voting, gaining employment, and contributing to society,” the letter said. “You can meet this moment and help end our failed punitive policy of cannabis prohibition.” Advertisement

AdvertisementBy New York Daily NewsMar 26, 2021 at 6:17 pmRep. Mondaire Jones isn’t beating around the bush when it comes to cannabis.The freshman New York Democrat, who’s pushing President Biden to reverse a string of recent pot-related firings of White House staffers, admitted Friday that he has smoked marijuana and said it makes no sense for Biden or any other employer to consider weed toking a fireable offense.Advertisement“I have in the past smoked marijuana. I do not currently smoke marijuana, but if I did it wouldn’t be a problem,” Jones said in an interview with the Daily News after...

public

Chris Sommerfeldt

NY's Hometown Paper 🍎 Breaking news, national (with a NY lens), sports, politics, entertainment NYC & beyond | About http://bit.ly/nydnmedia1, ➡️ http://bit.ly/nydnsubscribe

nydailynews.com

Credible

Speculation

Anecdotal Evidence

Generalization

Stacking the Deck

Appeal to Authority

Straw Man

Slippery Slope

Emotional Appeal

Red Herring

False Dilemma

Illogical

Moral Equivalency

Ad Hominem

Correlation w/o Causation

Semantics

Begging the Question

Faulty Analogy

Non Sequitur

Bandwagon

Dogmatism

Failing Occam's Razor

Biased

Pure Opinion

Hit Piece

Racial Bias

National Bias

Religious Bias

Financial Incentive

Political Agenda

Gender Bias

Misused Image/Video

Study Misinterpreted

Mistake

Misused Term

Science Misrepresented

Factual Error

Satire

Surface Level

Lack of Reliable Sources

Sensational

Not Credible

Investigative

Balanced

Well Sourced

Great Context

sports

entertainment

U.S.

international

business

technology

science

culture

politics

media

health

Rep. Mondaire Jones admits past weed use while calling on Biden to reverse pot-related White House firings

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS