‘No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana’
Joe Biden has announced plans to pardon everyone in the US who has been convicted on federal marijuana possession charges.
The White House confirmed the news on Thursday after the US President previously raised his concerns over those behind bars for offences related to weed.
As I’ve said before, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana.
Today, I’m taking steps to end our failed approach. Allow me to lay them out.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 6, 2022
Many Democrats have been calling for pardons for those convicted on marijuana possession charges, and Biden also encouraged governors to follow in his example as he made the declaration, which comes before the upcoming midterm election which will decide whether Biden’s party can hold onto control of Congress.
Writing on Twitter, Biden announced pardons for all marijuana possession saying there are “thousands of people who were previously convicted of simple possession who may be denied employment, housing, or educational support opportunities”.
He said the pardon will “remove this burden”.
Biden called on governs to follow suit, saying “no one should be in a federal prison solely for possessing marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either.”
Second: I’m calling on governors to pardon simple state marijuana possession offenses. Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely for possessing marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 6, 2022
Third: We classify marijuana at the same level as heroin – and more serious than fentanyl. It makes no sense. I’m asking @SecBecerra and the Attorney General to initiate the process of reviewing how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.
— President Biden (@POTUS) October 6, 2022
The president also pointed out how marijuana is currently classed under federal law as a Schedule I drug, the same as heroin and LSD, and “more serious than fentanyl” which “makes no sense”.
Announcing the decision, Biden said: “As I said when I ran for president, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana. Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit.”
Biden said criminal records for possession had ruined lives, imposing “needless barriers” to employment, housing, and educational opportunities.
He also noted that use of the drug was similar among white, Black and brown communities, yet “Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.”
Biden said he had directed the Attorney General to develop an administrative process for the “issuance of certificates of pardon to eligible individuals”.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General have also been tasked with initiating the administrative process to “review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law”.
Biden concluded his statement by stressing that “important limitations on trafficking, marketing, and under-age sales should stay in place”, but argued that “too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana”.
“It’s time that we right these wrongs,” he said.
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