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.
Disgusting. Tuition forgiven. Drug use forgiven. What’s next? God help us all.
Please explain.
the good stuff
He’s hopin to get Hunter off on something.
They just don't have the stomach for that.
Not even after a good belt of booze.
Why should HE?
We've killed over 65 million future America citizens that never even got a chance to breathe, let along smoke pot.
Because there are good people in the US who believe the word of God and abide by the word of God. That’s why.
"No stems, no seeds that you don't need......Acapulco Gold is *pssssssssssssssss*.....bad ass weeeeeeeeed!"
It’s about damn time. IMHO
Until they FORCE you to hire them like they are forcing landlords to accept criminals, drugggies, evictees, habitual deadbeats and those with subsidies.
“Thanks, Dad!”
Won’t give you heat, but Biden just made a mockery of the pardon process. Each case for a presidential pardon should be individually reviewed. A blanket pardon is an abuse of the executive branches pardon power. JMHO.
That’s the scariest part. Drunks on the road are bad enough. Throw in the folks on drugs...sheesh.
“Drunks on the road are bad enough. Throw in the folks on drugs...sheesh.”
They’re already there. The pardons change nothing.
Here in Florida, every roadside strip strip mall is selling dope. Lawyers are Happy Mal by billions chasing insurance companies. Not enough money in petty dope.
More power to Biden on this. Pot possession is a waste of law enforcement.
Though I grew up at the peak of the hippie-drug culture...late 60s, early 70s...I’ve never tried anything at all, including grass.
That said, any small government Republican who stands for incarcerating pot smokers has a slim grasp of conservative principals.
Here in Florida, every roadside strip strip mall is selling dope. Lawyers are Happy Mal by billions chasing insurance companies. Not enough money in petty dope.
Doesn’t he have to do it individually? Virginia recently tried to do some crap like this but the state court said the gov had to do it by individual.
A President shouldn’t have the power to overrule the laws of the land entirely.
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