A group of more than 150 celebrities, athletes, politicians, law enforcement professionals and academics signed a letter that was delivered to President Joe Biden on Tuesday, urging him to issue a \u201cfull, complete and unconditional pardon\u201d to all people with non-violent federal marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n
This comes as the administration is actively encouraging about 1,000 people who were temporarily placed on home confinement for federal drug offenses<\/a> to fill out clemency application forms.<\/p>\n The new letter\u2014signed by high-profile stars like Drake, Killer Mike, Meek Mill, Deion Sanders, Kevin Garnett, Al Harrington and more\u2014says that the war on drugs \u201chas crushed many souls and countless futures, while spreading intolerable levels of mistrust and dysfunction between minority communities and those sworn to protect them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe harms of incarceration are obvious, but the pains of federal marijuana convictions transcend prison walls, making it more difficult for someone to get a job, access affordable housing, and receive an education,\u201d it continues. \u201cA conviction can forever limit an individual\u2019s constitutional rights and can put the American dream further out of reach for an entire family.\u201d<\/p>\n It also references Biden\u2019s comments on the campaign trail supporting cannabis decriminalization<\/a> and committing to expunge marijuana convictions.<\/p>\n \u201cEnough is enough. No one should be locked up in federal prison for non-violent marijuana offenses,\u201d the letter, which was coordinated by civil rights activist Weldon Angelos, who received a presidential pardon for his own cannabis conviction<\/a> from then-President Donald Trump, says. \u201cNo one should continue to bear the scarlet letter of a federal conviction for marijuana offenses of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRelief from the federal war on marijuana would not only be just, it would also be good policy by advancing public safety and economic prosperity. A general pardon poses a low risk to the American public by expunging records and releasing the last remaining prisoners of federal marijuana prohibition. Those who will have their sentences commuted comprise a small percentage of the federal prison population and are incarcerated only for non-violent marijuana offenses. All other beneficiaries of a categorical pardon represent an even lower risk, since these people are already living peacefully among their neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter<\/a>\u2014which was also signed by 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla $ign and T.I.\u2014goes on to says there\u2019s precedent for the relief, pointing out actions taken by Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in the 1970s to categorically forgive Americans who avoided the draft for the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n Rapper Ralo, who is serving an eight-year sentence for a non-violent marijuana offense, is among the people that the letter signers say is deserving of relief<\/a>. In a press release, Ralo thanked the hip hop community \u201cfor supporting my clemency because it\u2019s just not right that corporations are allowed to violate federal law and become millionaires while people like myself go to prison for years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is hypocrisy,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I am hopeful that Joe Biden will honor his campaign promise and grant us clemency, without delay, so that we can return home to our families and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n The letter concludes by telling Biden that \u201ca general clemency will send a clear and powerful message that our country is truly taking a new course on criminal justice policy and practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Other signatories include former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R\/L), former U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham (R-SC), Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, Mark Holden of Koch Industries, clemency recipient Alice Johnson and state lawmakers in the Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas legislatures. Former federal prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals also signed on.<\/p>\n A coalition of advocates and lawmakers sent letters<\/a> with a similar request to Biden<\/a> early in his presidency in February.<\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing last month that Biden is \u201cexploring multiple avenues to provide relief to certain nonviolent drug offenders<\/a>, including through the use of his clemency power.\u201d<\/p>\n The administration is \u201cworking hard every day to reform our justice system in order to strengthen families, boost our economy, give people a chance at a better future,\u201d she said. \u201cAs part of this, the president is deeply committed to reducing incarceration, helping people successfully reenter society. And he has said too many people are incarcerated\u2014too many are black and brown.\u201d<\/p>\n Psaki added at the time that there was nothing actionable to preview at that point, but said the president is \u201clooking at a range of avenues\u201d for relief. The fact that, as a senator, Biden played a key role in enacting punitive drug laws that contributed to the mass incarceration he\u2019s now considering steps to resolve did not come up during the exchange.<\/p>\n Biden has faced criticism from drug policy reform advocates who\u2019ve grown frustrated that he\u2019s yet to make good on campaign promises such as decriminalizing marijuana. While his opposition to adult-use legalization remains a challenge on its own, they feel he should at least take steps to enact modest reform.<\/p>\n The president also campaigned on expunging prior cannabis records and respecting the rights of states to set their own laws.<\/p>\n Since taking office, however, his administration has not made progress on any of those pledges and has instead\u00a0fired its own White House staffers over marijuana<\/a>\u00a0and sought to extend a budget provision that has\u00a0blocked Washington, D.C. from legalizing cannabis sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n In April, Psaki was pressed on Biden\u2019s clemency promise for people with federal marijuana and said that process\u00a0will start with modestly rescheduling cannabis<\/a>\u2014a proposal that advocates say wouldn\u2019t actually accomplish what she\u2019s suggesting.<\/p>\n Moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II under the Controlled Substances Act, as Biden proposed on the campaign trail, wouldn\u2019t facilitate mass clemency given that being convicted for crimes related to drugs in that slightly lower category\u2014which currently includes cocaine\u2014also carries significant penalties.<\/p>\n Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said during a recent interview that Biden\u00a0could and should use executive authority<\/a>\u00a0to end federal marijuana prohibition on his own\u2014but the two of them have \u201cdifferences\u201d when it comes to drug policy. There are, however, legal questions about whether a president could actually legalize cannabis unilaterally given existing statutes.<\/p>\n Read the full letter to Biden below:<\/strong><\/p>\n Marijuana Clemency Letter to President Biden<\/a> by Marijuana Moment<\/a> on Scribd<\/p>\n\n Detroit Voters Will Decide On Psychedelics Decriminalization Ballot Measure In November<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Drake, Killer Mike And Other Celebs Push Biden To Issue Mass Marijuana Pardons<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A group of more than 150 celebrities, athletes, politicians, law enforcement professionals and academics signed a letter that was delivered to President Joe Biden on Tuesday, urging him to issue a \u201cfull, complete and unconditional pardon\u201d to all people with non-violent federal marijuana convictions. This comes as the administration isContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[99,18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49939"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49940,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49939\/revisions\/49940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n
\nRead More: Drake, Killer Mike And Other Celebs Push Biden To Issue Mass Marijuana Pardons<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"