Biden announces pardons for thousands with federal marijuana possession convictions

President Biden on Thursday announced that he is pardoning thousands of people who have federal convictions for “simple possession” of marijuana, part of what his administration is calling a three-step plan to ending the country’s “failed approach” to criminalizing the drug.

“As I often said during my campaign for President, no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana,” Biden said in a statement. “Sending people to prison for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives and incarcerated people for conduct that many states no longer prohibit. Criminal records for marijuana possession have also imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities. And while white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted, and convicted at disproportionate rates.”

Biden said he has directed Attorney General Merrick Garland to develop an administrative process to issue the pardons to eligible individuals, of which there are an estimated 6,500.

“There are thousands of people who have prior federal convictions for marijuana possession, who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result,” Biden said. “My action will help relieve the collateral consequences arising from these convictions.”

The president is urging governors in all 50 states to do the same.

“Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either,” Biden said.

He is also asking Garland and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra to “review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law.”

Marijuana is currently under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the classification meant for the most dangerous substances, including heroin and LSD, and even higher than the classification of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

“Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana,” Biden added. “It’s time that we right these wrongs.”

There has been increasing public support for marijuana legalization in the United States over the past few decades — and increasing pressure on the Biden administration to address the issue.

Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, introduced a plan to decriminalize the drug earlier this year.

Marijuana is currently legal for recreational use in 19 states plus the District of Columbia.

A recent Gallup poll found that more than two-thirds of Americans (68%) support legalizing marijuana, matching the record high reached a year ago. A Pew Research survey released in June showed nearly nine out of 10 Black Americans supporting legalization of some sort (57% said the drug should be legal for both medical and recreational use, while 28% said it should be legal only for medical use).

Advocates for legalization also point to the racial disparity in arrests tied to cannabis, as outlined in a 2020 report from the American Civil Liberties Union.

And a Gallup poll in August found that for the first time, more Americans say they now smoke marijuana than tobacco.