SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – President Joe Biden took executive action Thursday by pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, but some advocacy groups are calling for more.
“As I said when I ran for president, no one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana. It’s already legal in many states, and criminal records for marijuana possession have led to needless barriers in unemployment, housing, and educational opportunities. That’s before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences,” Biden said.
President Biden says he will ask the Justice Department and Health and Human Services to review how marijuana is scheduled under federal law. He will also encourage state governors to take similar action with state offenses.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws calls it a good start, with more work needing to be done at the federal level by Congress.
NORML is an organization that lobbies for the interests of responsible adult cannabis use, advocating for it to become legal for regulated commercial and retail sales.
Deputy Director of NORML Paul Armentano says the president must follow his campaign promise.
The White House said more than 6,500 U.S. citizens from 1992 to 2021 were convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law. It is also important to note that Since 1965, 29 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana violations. The overwhelming majority took place on the state and local levels.
“So while this act to issue federal pardons is indeed important, indeed has the whole nation talking. Indeed it is something that voters want. Let’s be clear it is only going to impact a small portion of the millions of Americans who are saddled with the stigma of a criminal cannabis conviction. A conviction that the majority of Americans no longer think should be classified as a crime,” Armentano said.
Armentano pointed out that Congress made marijuana illegal on the federal level in 1970 under the Controlled Substances Act. It is up to Congress to amend or appeal that law.
States are left with the authority to regulate their own laws. Nineteen states have diverted from the federal prohibition and legalized it, with 37 states regulating medical use.
