Do Bloomberg’s Statements on Marijuana Match His Past Actions?

Late-comer 2020 presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg stated in the last presidential debate, in South Carolina, that people should not be arrested for possession of marijuana. However, as detailed in an article on The Washington Free Beacon website, this seems to be a significant change of policy for the former New York Mayor. In fact, as mayor, Bloomberg was tougher on cannabis possession offences than any of his predecessors.

Despite stating about marijuana possession that, “We should not make this a criminal thing…” in the most recent debate, Bloomberg’s record on the topic during his 12-year reign as New York City’s mayor told a very different story. As outlined in the article, the NYPD arrested, on average, 106 people per day for low-level marijuana possession during Bloomberg’s time as mayor. That’s more than four times the number arrested for the same charge in the entire 24-year period prior to Bloomberg’s first mayoral term.

This has caused many to wonder if we can really trust that presidential candidate Bloomberg would actually fight for cannabis decriminalization if elected president.