More than 6,500 people may benefit from President Joe Biden's historic announcement on Thursday that he is pardoning those with federal convictions for simple possession of marijuana.
This decision also sends a strong statement about how such acts should be handled. Most convictions take place at the state level. The president is requesting that governors also grant pardons to persons
Biden Pardons Those Convicted For Possessing Marijuana
Additionally, on Thursday, Biden ordered a federal review of the federal law's scheduling of marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Administration presently classifies it as a Schedule I narcotic, which is described as a drug with no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse. This places it on the same category as heroin and LSD, as per USA Today.
According to the FBI, more than 540,000 persons were detained for marijuana-related charges in 2019 mostly state-level offenses. The House decided to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level in April, primarily along party lines. The legislation has not been discussed in the Senate.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that medical marijuana use is authorized in 37 states and the District of Columbia. It is acceptable for recreational use in 19 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.
Marijuana use has long been racially stigmatized in the US. According to PBS, recreational marijuana was initially introduced to American culture by Mexican immigrants in the 1910s. Anti-drug efforts linked marijuana to violence and crime did by racially inferior communities, and the drug came to be associated with immigrants.
These biases would persist for many years. The Reagan administration's War on Drugs, which began in the 1980s, enacted mandatory minimum punishments, including life terms for repeat offenders. With the passage of the 1994 crime bill by then-President Bill Clinton, the War on Drugs increased under then-President George Bush.
In the years since the impacts of the measures have persisted. In all 50 states, even those that have legalized marijuana, there were more than six million marijuana-related arrests between 2010 and 2018, according to the ACLU. Black individuals are also more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people.
Even though African Americans and Caucasians use marijuana at comparable rates, African Americans are arrested for marijuana-related offenses at a rate that is about four times higher than that of whites, according to the NAACP. Since his election, supporters have urged Biden to legalize marijuana, and many applauded the president's decision.
Weeks before the midterm elections, Biden's action may encourage minority and younger voters to cast ballots. Young and Black voters are among those least likely to cast ballots in autumn, according to the most recent NPR/Marist survey issued this month, The Hill reported.
Biden Vowed to Decriminalize Cannabis Use During 2020 Campaign
It's legal in many places, but criminal records for marijuana possession have created unnecessary barriers to finding work, finding a place to live, and getting a good education, No one should be imprisoned just for using or owning marijuana, according to President Joe Biden, who stated in a statement, "As I said when I ran for president."
As a candidate for president in 2020, President Joe Biden pledged to decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions. He also supported legalizing marijuana for medical use, deferring to states on recreational use, and classifying marijuana as a Schedule II substance.
In his 2020 presidential campaign platform, Joe Biden promised to decriminalize cannabis use and automatically expunge prior convictions. He also advocated making marijuana legal for medical purposes, leaving recreational use up to the states, and scheduling it as a Schedule II drug.
The president should work with Congress to regulate marijuana in a way that is comparable to how alcohol is regulated, according to the executive director of NORML, a group that supports the decriminalization of marijuana for adults. An increasing number of Americans support decriminalizing marijuana since California became the first state to legalize it for medical use in 1996, VOA News reported.
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