President Joe Biden pardoned thousands of people who had been incarcerated for simple possession of marijuana, in an announcement made on October 6. Biden’s pardon has benefitted many who were imprisoned and proved beneficial to the economy.
In a video posted to the White House’s Twitter, President Biden discussed the approach they are taking in regard to the marijuana pardon. As he described in this short video, marijuana has been classified as a schedule one substance, which is the same as LSD and heroin. This has been a topic that has been heavily discussed since marijuana has been legalized in many states.
“No one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana,” said Biden in his statement.
“No one should be in jail for using or possessing marijuana”
– President Biden
If that doesn’t make it clear that Biden is pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana, I don’t know what does. This legislature pardoned thousands who were charged with the simple possession of marijuana. This excludes those who were charged in states where marijuana possession is still illegal.
With that being said, many states have made the push to legalize marijuana, which the president and his administration mentioned played a great role in this decision. This is not the only announcement the Biden administration has made about marijuana. In 2021, Biden stated that his administration would be working on cannabis decriminalization. This proved to be one of many steps to do so.
One question that has been posed by many is: does this mean more states will begin to legalize marijuana? Could this mean that national legislation regarding marijuana could be passed in the near future?
This announcement was certainly a win for not only those pardoned, but many across the country who use cannabis recreationally. Could this mean that cannabis will soon be decriminalized on the federal level? We’ll have to wait and see.