The blunt response to Biden's bid to reclassify marijuana: Joe accused of yet another 2024 election ploy to get votes with move that will make America 'more lethargic and dumber'

President Joe Biden has been accused of yet another election year ploy to appeal to younger voters with his historic move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug. 

It would not legalize the drug nationally, but instead change legal restrictions surrounding its use and study. 

Critics say his campaign is 'grasping at straws' to find new ways to reverse his declining youth support and believe it could increase drug use across the country.

Biden has already forgiven more than $160 billion in student loans, after wiping $6 billion more for 317,000 students who went to art school.

Republican strategist Curt Anderson told DailyMail.com: 'Legalizing drugs makes America more lethargic and dumber, which obviously helps the Biden campaign.'

Democrats meanwhile have said the move is a long time coming and follows on from Biden pardoning all minor federal marijuana convictions.

President Joe Biden's Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is planning to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III, lessening restrictions on the drug

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is expected to propose changing marijuana from Schedule I, which has the highest potential for abuse, to Schedule III, alongside the likes of ketamine and some anabolic steroids. 

Democrats have been largely in favor of the rescheduling, saying cannabis has far less dangerous health impacts than other Schedule I substances while its current clarification has also led to the imprisonment of many Americans.

Though some in the GOP are supportive of designating cannabis as a less harmful substance, a large cohort of the conference believes the move will increase drug use in the U.S.

And they are also saying this is a move by Biden to attract younger voters, among whom his support has been wavering.  

'I think he's probably grasping at straws in terms of how he's going to appeal to younger people across the country,' Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., told DailyMail.com. 

'They grab on to this or that to see if they can kind of bolster some of the support they've lost,' he continued. 'It is peculiar that they look at it right now. And to me, that's probably mostly politically motivated.'

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, agreed, telling DailyMail.com, 'I assume everything is an election year gimmick.'

Vance also agreed that the arrests of Americans for small amounts of marijuana is generally disproportionate to the crime, but added there is a balance that needs to be struck between heavy handed drug enforcement and public spaces filled with smokers and smells of marijuana.

'The Biden Admin’s efforts to remove marijuana as a Schedule I drug is irresponsible and will directly lead to more drug use in the United States,' Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., posted on X. 

'This will not make Oklahoma families stronger, streets safer, or workplaces more productive.'

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., reacted to the rescheduling calling it 'major news for businesses, tax deductions, & research barriers.'

Rescheduling marijuana does not legalize it, rather it lessens federal restrictions around its research and legal penalties associated with the substance

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who has long advocated for cannabis reform and famously asked if Joe Biden was high in a 2020 Democrat presidential candidate debate, told DailyMail.com he is grateful that the White House is moving on marijuana rescheduling. 

'It's a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I Drug,' he said at a press conference Wednesday.

The event was held to discus the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, a bill aiming to decriminalize cannabis and remove it from scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act.

Booker called marijuana's current scheduling absurd and outrageous. He also said the need for rescheduling pot is 'urgent' and that he welcomes the Biden administration's work on this. 

'I was pleased by yesterday's news that the DEA under the Biden administration is preparing to take a truly historic step rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III under the controlled substances act,' Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., said at a Wednesday press conference.

'Reclassifying cannabis is necessary, and it's a long overdue step,' he added.

'I think changing the schedule probably makes sense at this point and I think there is a strong scientific consensus and popular agreement that giving the state's this authority makes a lot of sense,' Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told DailyMail.com.

'I don't think that this is going to determine the outcome of the election,' he continued. 'I don't think anyone thinks that it will.'

Health and law enforcement officials current and former also weighed in on Biden's marijuana moves.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., (Center) Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., (Left) and Sen.Ron Wyden, D-Ore., meet with reporters to discuss the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, a move to decriminalize cannabis and remove it from scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act on Wednesday

'The decision to reschedule marihuana is not supported by the science. It’s a political act in an election year, and the result could be harm to many Americans, especially young people,' former acting DEA Administrator Timothy Shea told DailyMail.com in a statement. 

'Biden Administration ignored the science, the regulatory process, and international treaties to get a predetermined result,' he continued. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to the DailyMail.com that the scheduling review is currently before the Department of Justice, to which the DEA belongs.