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.
Roger that.
Guess son Hunter will be pardoned next and save the gov-mint and congress all that needs to be done to put the punk in jail for 50 years.
Maybe FPSRussia will be cleared of all wrongdoing.
ICWYDT...
So pardons (I though) were for one person at a time not thousands or millions at a time
Comic books are a gateway to porn.
Tricycles are a gateway to Hells Angels.
Singing to a child is a gateway to Springsteen.
Cornflakes are a gateway to obesity.
The "blanket" is a PR stunt. Every person convicted of the crime "pardoned" has a criminal history record that will need to have administrative activity applied. It's not a trivial volume of work. It may takes months to complete the official records updates...assuming the courts don't bring Biden up short and refuse to honor his stunt.
I'm thankful that my wife is retiring from her job as a police/fire/EMS dispatcher on Dec 27th. We will have one more Christmas holiday spoiled by having to work Sunday through Wednesday this week.
When I was building a mission planning system for a foreign customer, we had an application seeking employment as a software developer. He admitted chronic use of marijuana and asked for special consideration to not come to work on days when he was high. We just laughed. Really? I'm developing software for the Grob120, Beechcraft T6, Embraer Phenom 100, and H135/H145 helicopters. Full flight performance software using 6 dimensional quadri-linear interpolation that must match the manufacturers "book" calculations precisely. Any screw-up could crash an aircraft. There is no way we were taking on the liability of a pot smoker on the development staff.
Something Trump should have done.
No victim, no crime.
Really???? LOL
The dumbing down of America accelerates
This nation is coming apart so fast it is dizzying
《》《》《》
From just reading a dozen threads here, you are 100% correct!
The writing on the wall mene mene etc...
Howzat workin’ out for us so far?
...or singlely; either.
Breathing causes death.
No law, no crime.
People charged with federal crimes on this were probably dealers
It’s too bad you don’t know more about history, 30 years prior to that the ATF (unconstitutional by name alone) and Harry Anslinger began the war on drugs with much propaganda for nefarious government purposes. Does MJ really make black men rape white women?
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