On October 6th, President Biden announced he is granting pardons to over 6,500 people with federal simple marijuana possession offenses. And, in an acknowledgment of the fact that the vast majority of cannabis convictions take place on the state level, President Biden simultaneously encouraged the country’s governors to use their clemency power to issue similar grants.
In addition to the pardons, President Biden also made it known that he’s directed Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Merrick Garland, the Attorney General, to initiate the process of reviewing how cannabis is scheduled under federal law. And while the outcome of that undertaking won’t be known for some time, we’re hopeful it will result in cannabis being descheduled (i.e removed from the Controlled Substances Act altogether).
These announcements come after years of advocacy by Last Prisoner Project, who—in addition to our direct lobbying of the Biden Administration—has launched two campaigns (A Time to Heal and
Keep Your Promise) focused on getting President Biden to use his clemency power to provide relief to those with federal cannabis convictions.
Sarah Gersten, Last Prisoner Project’s Executive Director, responded to today's announcement with the following statement.
“We are thrilled that President Biden has taken this initial action to pardon thousands of individuals suffering the collateral consequences of a cannabis conviction. While we will continue to call on his administration to release those still incarcerated in federal prison for cannabis offenses other than simple possession, these grants are an important first step in acknowledging the need to repair the harms of prohibition. We look forward to continuing to work with the Biden administration on broader clemency grants, the release of every federal cannabis prisoner, and the federal legalization of cannabis.”
In short, while the President’s executive actions are an unprecedented, important step forward, there is still much more that needs to be done. Below is more information on how today’s developments will impact the lives of our constituents, as well as the country as a whole.
Read more of our coverage of President Biden’s announcement in
New York Post,
Bloomberg,
Reuters,
USA Today,
Rolling Stone,
Washington Post,
Grid News,
Ganjapreneur,
the Guardian, and
Marijuana Moment.
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