President Joe Biden announced a massive pardon for people in and out of prison charged with “simple possession” of marijuana, a major step toward the national decriminalization of cannabis and a major victory for criminal justice advocates.
“Sending people to prison for possession of marijuana has disrupted too many lives and imprisoned people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit,” Biden said in a statement Thursday, criticizing the US government’s past handling of marijuana as a “failed approach “.
Marijuana is legal for recreational or medical use in most US states, but remains illegal at the federal level.
“Marijuana criminal records have also imposed unnecessary barriers to employment, housing and educational opportunities,” the president added. “And while whites and blacks and browns use marijuana at similar rates, blacks and browns have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.”
The president also said he directed the attorney general to create a process to carry out the pardons and is asking the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to review the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Act controlled substances
Schedule I status means that the government considers cannabis to have no accepted medical use and to present a high risk of abuse. The classification influences how marijuana is treated under federal criminal law more generally, and also places substantial obstacles on those investigating the medical uses of cannabis.
It’s unclear when the pardons would take effect, and most marijuana prisoners in the US are incarcerated at the state level.
In his proposal accompanying the pardon announcement, Biden also called on state governors to adopt similar measures.
It’s not clear exactly which crimes meet the definition of “simple possession” under the new pardon plan.
A White House official told CNBC that the new policy would affect at least 6,500 people, as well as thousands more charged with possession under the Washington, D.C. law, which is also covered by the Biden plan.
The White House also told The Hill that no one is currently in federal prison solely on the charges outlined in the president’s plan.
Even a modest reduction in the number of marijuana convictions would mark a major shift in the US criminal justice system.
In 2018, according to research by the American Civil Liberties Union, nearly half of all arrests in the United States were for marijuana, and police booked more people for cannabis than all other violent crimes combined.
Democratic voters, racial and criminal justice advocates and members of Mr. Biden’s own party have been pressing the White House to take bigger steps on marijuana reform.
In July, senators and fellow Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Ron Wyden, Ed Markey and Kirsten Gillibrand slammed Mr. Biden’s “extraordinarily disappointing” record on cannabis so far.
They have called for mass deprogramming and pardons since last year, and many in the group have been pushing for federal legislation to make marijuana legal and easier to research.
“It is obvious that cannabis has widely accepted medical benefits, affirmed by the medical and scientific communities both here and around the world,” the letter said.
As a candidate, Biden said he supported the decriminalization of cannabis and amnesty for low-level crimes, but did not support full legalization.
The announcement marks a dramatic shift in Joe Biden’s policy. In the 1990s, as a senator, Mr. Bidne was a key architect of a series of “tough on crime” policies that exacerbated the war on drugs and its disproportionate consequences on people of color.
The White House spent the previous weeks debating the finer points of the pardon announcement, according to CNN, as Biden remains skeptical of full legalization.
The move puts it in line with larger national trends on marijuana laws.
As it stands, 37 states and the District of Columbia have legal medical marijuana, while 19 states have passed recreational cannabis laws.
Five more states (Missouri, Arkansas, North and South Dakota, and Maryland) are voting on recreational pot proposals this year.
Progressive candidates like Senate hopeful John Fetterman of Pennsylvania have made marijuana reform a key part of their pitch to voters.
Last month in Pittsburgh, Biden and Fetterman, the current lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, discussed marijuana deprogramming, Politico reports.
This is a developing story and will be updated with new information.