For a president in his late 70s, Joe Biden has been surprisingly forward-looking in many of his policy priorities, including the climate change-combating Inflation Reduction Act and action on the student debt crisis.
One area where Biden had remained stubbornly rooted in the 1990s, though, was cannabis policy, with a noncommittal approach to decriminalization at odds with earlier campaign promises and little substantive action on the issue in over a year of helming the federal government. That changed last week, as Biden issued a proclamation pardoning federal convictions for marijuana possession, which could help more than 6,500 people move on with their lives.
It was a significant recognition of the fact that it doesn’t now and has never made much sense to saddle people with criminal convictions for possessing what is in most respects a more harmless drug than alcohol, and which is now powering robust legal industries in states including (soon, hopefully) New York. Yet this step must be recognized for what it is: a first step in a broader journey toward totally reevaluating how the government treats cannabis and views those who use or sell it.
Next up should be the speedy de-scheduling of marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances; Biden has already ordered a review of its current position as a Schedule I drug, on par with heavy-duty narcotics like heroin. It is patently ridiculous for the federal government to continue asserting that marijuana, which is available in medicinal form in 37 states, has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”
This would also potentially help a group of people who did not see much benefit from the order: noncitizens, who can still be deported over simple marijuana possession even after a pardon. The undocumented were excluded from the pardons altogether, for reasons that seem merely political. Biden should also keep the pressure on state governors to issue their own pardons, as most marijuana convictions are not federal. The time is past for half measures.
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