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Biden pardons all Americans on federal marijuana use charges
Washington Examiner ^ | December 22, 2023 10:37 AM | by Anna Giaritelli, Homeland Security Reporter

Posted on 12/22/2023 7:45:14 AM PST by Red Badger

President Joe Biden took major action ahead of the holiday and pardoned all Americans arrested, prosecuted, or convicted on federal charges for marijuana use, following through on his 2020 campaign promise to expunge cannabis use offenses.

Biden signed a proclamation Friday that forgives U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents caught by law enforcement for possessing the drug and charged, going far beyond the sweeping actions he took last year for thousands of people convicted of possession.

The new action includes "additional offenses of simple possession and use of marijuana under federal and D.C. law," the White House said in a statement issued Friday morning.

The Biden administration did not provide an estimate for how many people would be affected, but it noted that those convicted of selling or transporting marijuana were not included in the pardon.

The White House's hope in taking such broad action was to make it easier for people with criminal records to be able to obtain work and housing as a result of clearing their records of the felony offense.

"Criminal records for marijuana use and possession have imposed needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities," Biden said. "Too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana. It’s time that we right these wrongs."

People convicted of violating state marijuana laws are not eligible for this latest pardon, but Biden urged governors to take similar actions to absolve state charges.

Biden will take additional action Friday and commute the prison sentences of 11 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, including some mandatory life sentences, according to the White House. These commutations are the latest since he took similar action in April.

"Today, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is using his authority under the Constitution to uphold the values of redemption and rehabilitation by commuting the sentences of 11 fellow Americans who are serving unduly long sentences for non-violent drug offenses," the White House said in its announcement.

The Biden administration moved earlier this year to reclassify marijuana to a lower category on the Drug Enforcement Administration's scale. The Department of Health and Human Services proposed that the DEA move marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug.

As a Schedule I drug, marijuana is defined as a drug with no medical use and a high potential for abuse or addiction. Schedule II drugs may have some medically acceptable uses but still come with a high risk of abuse or addiction. Schedule III drugs contain smaller amounts of narcotic and non-narcotic drugs.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: biden; cannabis; cartels; ceowdedjails; corruption; crime; derfuhrer; despotism; diktat; druggies; drugs; expunge; fjb; ganja; mafia; makingroom; marijuana; maryjane; mob; organizedcrime; pardon; pothead; potheads; proclamation; weed; wod
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To: Red Badger

We always heard that the “war on drugs” wasn’t working. That’s because the azho politicians up in the swamp didn’t want it to work. Keep them high and ignorant and they’ll continue to vote for you no matter how big of a crook they are.


21 posted on 12/22/2023 8:01:14 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (The American Taxpayers don't owe anybody an instant "I want it now" version of the American dream.)
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To: unixfox

thread winner.


22 posted on 12/22/2023 8:01:46 AM PST by generally ( Don't be stupid. We have politicians for that.)
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To: Red Badger

WOW! Bet they aren’t all one joint convictions either. Surelt there are no major traffickers among them. 🚽


23 posted on 12/22/2023 8:02:50 AM PST by rktman (Destroy America from within? Check! WTH? Enlisted USN 1967 to end up with this💩? 🚫💉! 🇮🇱👍!)
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To: Red Badger

He’s just following orders from Obama....


24 posted on 12/22/2023 8:04:54 AM PST by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
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To: Smiling Jack500

I have drank plenty of that.


25 posted on 12/22/2023 8:06:06 AM PST by caver
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To: Red Badger

This is what a collapsed society looks like. It’s over.


26 posted on 12/22/2023 8:06:46 AM PST by Trumpisourlastchance
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To: Red Badger

These blanket pardons seem unconstitutional. In effect, this means any law previously passed can be vetoed by the president by simply claiming all who violate the law are pardoned.


27 posted on 12/22/2023 8:07:09 AM PST by CodeToad (Rule #1: The elites want you dead.)
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To: caver

In the late ‘60’s when I was in the Navy at Mayport, FL, me and a buddy used to get Mother Goldstein’s Jewish Passover Wine for $2.25 a quart...We’d get sloppy drunk on that stuff...


28 posted on 12/22/2023 8:11:56 AM PST by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
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To: Cen-Tejas

I always had a bad feeling that when the teens of the 1960s and 1970s came of age they would try to legalize what they wanted in those years. Sex and Drugs! Some companies even began to copyright various names for future product use such as “Acapulco Gold” and other names.

Wonder what today’s teens will try to legalize when they get of age?


29 posted on 12/22/2023 8:12:37 AM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
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To: CodeToad

BINGO....................


30 posted on 12/22/2023 8:14:28 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while l aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: unixfox

PERFECT


31 posted on 12/22/2023 8:15:49 AM PST by Paul46360 (Nuk'em all--- let GOD sort them out!)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

In general, everything should be legalized. If they want to cause damage, let them. But, the other side of that philosophy, arrest for public impairment, driving, homelessness, unemployment and welfare denied, etc. is not in the cards. Best we can do is slap their wrists.


32 posted on 12/22/2023 8:16:14 AM PST by anton
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To: caver
Yea, any alcoholic probably started with Boones Farm.

Boones Farm strawberry hill. As a youth in Buffalo, we had a clubhouse in the basement. We used the window to chill it to near freezing so we couldn't taste the stuff.

33 posted on 12/22/2023 8:16:36 AM PST by FatherofFive (Islam only understands Death and Pain. Give it to them. )
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To: Red Badger
There is normally a lot of paperwork that goes with a pardon. A blanket announcement is a PR stunt.
34 posted on 12/22/2023 8:16:41 AM PST by Myrddin
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To: Gay State Conservative

The only reason alcohol and tobacco aren’t “gateway drugs” is you can buy them legally from a legal dealer. It is the laws criminalizing pot make it a “gateway drug”.


35 posted on 12/22/2023 8:19:08 AM PST by devere
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To: JBW1949

Wine will definitely get you.


36 posted on 12/22/2023 8:19:37 AM PST by caver
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To: unixfox

It makes sense, Joe’s got the brain of a life-long pot head.


37 posted on 12/22/2023 8:20:41 AM PST by Scott from the Left Coast (“We should not assume civilization is robust”)
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To: caver
“Grass is a gateway drug. Ask any meth addict...and fentanyl addict...and he/she will tell you that they started with grass.”

Yea, any alcoholic probably started with Boones Farm.

Both are likely true. That makes neither pot or alcohol addiction any more acceptabie.

38 posted on 12/22/2023 8:20:45 AM PST by pfflier
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To: pfflier

“That makes neither pot or alcohol addiction any more acceptabie.”

I agree.


39 posted on 12/22/2023 8:22:35 AM PST by caver
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To: Red Badger

That pardon should be on the condition that they no longer use drugs.


40 posted on 12/22/2023 8:22:46 AM PST by Reno89519 (It's war. No one murders and takes Americans hostage. Time to act. Declare war on Islamic Hamas.)
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