Biden to pardon all federal convictions of simple marijuana possession
President Biden on Thursday issued one of the largest mass pardons in US history to roughly 6,500 people convicted in federal court of simple marijuana possession, as well as thousands more charged locally in DC.
Biden also ordered a federal review of pot’s Schedule I status that lumps it together with such drugs as heroin and LSD, which could begin the process toward federal legalization.
Biden told The Post in July that he was “working on” fulfilling his 2019 campaign pledge to free “everyone” in federal prison for marijuana offenses — and the president received pressure from Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democratic Senate candidate, to embrace marijuana reform ahead of the midterm elections due to broad public support.
Nineteen states, DC and two US territories have passed laws since 2012 allowing recreational marijuana use — in defiance of federal law, which still deems possession of the drug for any reason outside limited research a crime.
“He is following through on his campaign commitment,” a senior administration official told reporters moments before Biden tweeted about his actions.
“The president is calling on governors to take action as well. This is important as the vast majority of marijuana possession convictions are state convictions,” an official said.
However, the sweeping action stops short of freeing everyone from prison for pot crimes because it will only apply to simple possession, whereas most people in federal prison are accused of distributing the drug.
All 6,500 people expected to be pardoned federally are not currently in prison, an official said, and “there is no individual currently in federal prisons solely for simple possession of marijuana.”
There are 2,700 federal pot inmates, according to a recent congressional estimate — some with life sentences, including Pedro Moreno, 62, who distributed marijuana imported from Mexico from 1986 to 1996. Another federal inmate, Luke Scarmazzo, 42, has served 14 years of a 22-year sentence for running a medical marijuana business in California.
“I will die in prison for marijuana unless I receive executive clemency,” Moreno told The Post in April. “All I can do is hope President Biden was sincere when he said he will free all the pot prisoners.”
Amy Povah, founder of the CAN-DO Foundation, which advocates for clemency for non-violent offenders, told The Post on Thursday, “Simple possession is typically not a federal crime so I’m elated for those pardon recipients and look forward to seeing the list of 6,500 individuals who will benefit.”
But Povah added, “I can’t wait for those who are currently incarcerated and have survived a historic pandemic under tortuous conditions to get the relief they were promised, as well.”
Biden broke the news of his dramatic marijuana actions on Twitter as he traveled from an event at IBM’s facilities in Poughkeepsie, NY, to a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in New Jersey. Later Thursday, Biden was due to appear at a fundraiser for Senate Democrats in New York City alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who sponsors federal pot legalization legislation.
“Sending people to jail for possessing marijuana has upended too many lives — for conduct that is legal in many states,” Biden tweeted. “That’s before you address the clear racial disparities around prosecution and conviction. Today, we begin to right these wrongs.
The president added, “I’d also like to note that as federal and state regulations change, we still need important limitations on trafficking, marketing, and underage sales of marijuana.”
Mayor Eric Adams praised Biden’s moves, saying, “For too long, underserved communities — particularly communities of color — have faced disproportionate rates of drug-related incarceration, and I applaud President Biden for taking these tremendous strides toward finally delivering equity to those disproportionately harmed by the ‘War on Drugs.’”
Biden’s decision to publicly call on Attorney General Merrick Garland and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to evaluate the scheduling of pot under the Controlled Substances Act may have far-reaching effects on research and potentially interstate sales.
Marijuana is currently a Schedule I drug, which means it’s considered to have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical value. Schedule II lists drugs including cocaine and fentanyl, and lower schedules become easier to research and prescribe.
Pot advocates have lobbied unsuccessfully for decades to reschedule marijuana — including at public smoke-ins outside the White House when former “Choom Gang” toker Barack Obama was president.
Some cannabis reform advocates say the government should consider delisting marijuana altogether and treating it like any other farmed product.
The dramatic turnabout for Biden on the issue comes about a month ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections as high inflation and rising gas prices threaten to sink Democratic candidates. Last year, the Biden White House fired at least five staffers who admitted to past pot use.
The actual pardons will be distributed by the Justice Department to applicants in one of the largest such reprieves since President Jimmy Carter in 1977 pardoned the roughly 500,000 men believed to have violated US draft laws during the Vietnam War, of whom 209,517 were formally accused.
A pardon proclamation released by the White House Thursday says, “Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., do hereby grant a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to (1) all current United States citizens and lawful permanent residents who committed the offense of simple possession of marijuana in violation of the Controlled Substances Act… or in violation of D.C. Code 48–904.01.. and (2) all current United States citizens and lawful permanent residents who have been convicted of the offense of simple possession of marijuana in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, as currently codified at 21 U.S.C. 844.”
The proclamation says “the Attorney General, acting through the Pardon Attorney, shall administer and effectuate the issuance of certificates of pardon to eligible applicants.”
Pardons alleviate various tangential consequences of a criminal conviction for housing, employment, and other issues, such as federal student aid.
Biden as a senator authored or advocated for some of the nation’s harshest drug laws in the 1980s and ’90s, but he pivoted ahead of the 2020 election with promises of mass clemency as he fended off younger Democratic rivals who supported legalization.
Biden said on a debate stage in 2019: “I think we should decriminalize marijuana, period. And I think everyone — anyone who has a record — should be let out of jail, their records expunged, be completely zeroed out.”
Members of both political parties support — and oppose — cannabis policy reform.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) is pushing legislation to release current federal pot inmates and President Donald Trump last year commuted the sentences of seven people serving life terms for marijuana — including two men who were given life without parole under the three-strikes provision of the Biden-authored 1994 crime law.
Michael Pelletier, a 66-year-old wheelchair-bound paraplegic, was among those released by Trump last January. He received a life sentence for smuggling Canadian pot into Maine before both opened regulated recreational markets.
“I thank President Trump every day that I wake up in a comfortable bed in a beautiful home in Florida surrounded by loving family, rather than the screeching sound of the P.A. system announcing another lock down due to violence,” Pelletier told The Post this year. “It breaks my heart knowing there are still people serving life without parole for cannabis. I hope Biden will free all pot prisoners because I personally know several people who voted for him based on that campaign promise alone.”
A recent Gallup poll found that 68% of Americans, including half of Republicans, support legalizing pot, and federal legalization is widely considered inevitable due to overwhelming support among younger adults.
