NEW YORK — Rep. Mondaire Jones isn’t beating around the bush when it comes to cannabis.
The freshman New York Democrat, who’s pushing President Joe 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.
“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 New York Daily News after sending a letter 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 the Daily Beast, 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 because of similar admissions.
None 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, including New York, 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 Latino 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 Democrats had not heard from Biden as of late Friday in response to their letter.
Other 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.”
