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President Joe Biden says his administration is \u201cworking on\u201d plans to fulfill his campaign pledge to free people who are incarcerated for marijuana. This marks the first time that the president has publicly made a substantive comment about cannabis policy since taking office more than a year ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone should be in prison for the use of marijuana,\u201d Biden said in response to a question from The New York Post\u2019s Steven Nelson on Saturday night after stepping off Marine One on the White House lawn.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working on the crime bill now,\u201d the president added<\/a> \u2014though it\u2019s not clear what legislation he was referring to.<\/p>\n White House press staff did not respond to Marijuana Moment\u2019s request for clarification by time of publication.<\/p>\n President Biden, returning to WH, says Saudi FM not telling truth<\/p>\n Biden then chided reporter for asking about MBS fist bump, telling press to ‘talk about something that matters’<\/p>\n He proceeded to say he’s ‘hoping’ inflation will go down and ‘working on’ freeing pot inmates https:\/\/t.co\/NRl6ccmgRI<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xEUHDHu4MS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Steven Nelson (@stevennelson10) July 17, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The president has received numerous pleas from lawmakers and advocates to take executive action on marijuana reform, with many pressing him specifically to use his authority to issue mass pardons for people with non-violent federal cannabis convictions.<\/p>\n But while Biden previously remarked on the campaign trail that he doesn\u2019t think people should be imprisoned over simple marijuana offenses, he\u2019s only taken limited steps to start granting such relief since taking office. In April, he granted clemency to 78 people<\/a>, and that included a handful of commutations for individuals who were convicted for cannabis-related crimes.<\/p>\n That falls far short of the mass pardons that lawmakers and advocates have been pushing for, of course, but it was viewed as a positive incremental step. Prior to that action, the president had reserved his pardon power to turkeys who were ceremonially spared<\/a> around Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n Following that ceremony, The Post\u2019s Nelson pressed the president on cannabis clemency, asking him if there were plans to pardon \u201cany people in addition to turkeys.\u201d Biden jokingly replied, \u201cyou need a pardon?\u201d and didn\u2019t respond to a follow-up question about marijuana prisoners. Until Saturday, that had been the extent of Biden\u2019s commentary on cannabis issues since the 2020 election.<\/p>\n As the months have passed under the Biden administration, there\u2019s been growing frustration over executive inaction<\/a>, with many left wondering why the president has delayed taking a step that would arguably earn him bipartisan praise at a time his approval ratings remain low.<\/p>\n Biden has received about a dozen\u00a0letters<\/a>\u00a0from<\/a>\u00a0lawmakers<\/a>,\u00a0advocates<\/a>, celebrities and people impacted by criminalization to\u00a0do something<\/a>\u00a0about the people who remain behind federal bars over cannabis.<\/p>\n Six senators\u2014including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ)\u2014sent a letter to Biden earlier this month to express their frustration over the administration\u2019s \u201cfailure\u201d to meaningfully address the harms of marijuana criminalization<\/a> and use executive clemency authority to change course.<\/p>\n They said that the administration\u2019s current stance is \u201charming thousands of Americans, slowing research, and depriving Americans of their ability to use marijuana for medical or other purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n The recently appointed U.S. pardon attorney also recently weighed in on the prospects of mass cannabis clemency<\/a>, telling Marijuana Moment that her office handles cases independently, but it could be empowered to issue broader commutations or pardons if directed by the president.<\/p>\n In light of Biden\u2019s new comments, it appears that the pressure campaign may be poised to deliver results, even if the specifics on timing and scope remain unclear.<\/p>\n At a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing in May, Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and other Democratic lawmakers stressed the need for\u00a0reforming the federal clemency process<\/a>, calling for applications to be streamlined to make it easier for people with non-violent federal drug convictions to get relief.<\/p>\n Late last year, a coalition of congressional lawmakers introduced the Fair and Independent Experts in Clemency (FIX Clemency) Act, a bill that would\u00a0take clemency review away from the Justice Department<\/a>\u00a0and instead establish an independent board appointed by the president.<\/p>\n \u2014 A report published by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) last year affirmed that the president has it within his power to\u00a0grant mass pardons for cannabis offenses<\/a>. It also said that the administration can move to federally legalize cannabis without waiting for lawmakers to act.<\/p>\n The White House has been asked about the issue several times. Former Press Secretary Jen Psaki had said that the president has \u201cevery intention of using his clemency power\u201d and is \u201clooking at\u201d relief for non-violent drug offenders.<\/p>\n Rahul Gupta, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), said last month that the Biden administration is\u00a0\u201cmonitoring\u201d states that have legalized marijuana<\/a>\u00a0to inform federal policy, recognizing the failures of the current prohibitionist approach.<\/p>\n In the background of these administrative developments, congressional lawmakers have continued to work legislatively to put an end to cannabis criminalization.<\/p>\n A Senate bill to federally legalize marijuana and promote social equity that was first previewed last year could finally be introduced as early as this week<\/a>, two congressional sources familiar with the planning told Marijuana Moment on Friday. The House passed a similar piece of legalization legislation<\/a> for the second time in April.<\/p>\n Additionally, there are reportedly plans in the works to\u00a0advance an alternative omnibus cannabis reform package<\/a> if broad legalization doesn\u2019t garner enough support to be enacted. Offices in both chambers are said to be discussing a plan to advance what would effectively be a marijuana minibus of incremental reforms, addressing issues like cannabis banking protections, Small Business Administration (SBA) program access and marijuana research, for example, but stopping short of descheduling cannabis.<\/p>\n Biden has maintained a steadfast opposition to adult-use marijuana legalization, so there\u2019s still an open question about what he would do if comprehensive reform legislation made it to his desk. But in the interim, advocates will take any wins they can get from the historically prohibitionist president, which is why the brief statement from the president himself about active work on clemency is notable.<\/p>\n Federal Marijuana Enforcement On Tribal Lands Is \u2018Horrible Misappropriation\u2019 Of Resources, Senator Tells Interior Secretary<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Biden Says He\u2019s \u2018Working On\u2019 Fulfilling Marijuana Campaign Pledge To Free Prisoners<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden says his administration is \u201cworking on\u201d plans to fulfill his campaign pledge to free people who are incarcerated for marijuana. This marks the first time that the president has publicly made a substantive comment about cannabis policy since taking office more than a year ago. \u201cI don\u2019tContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":55940,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55939"}],"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=55939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55941,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55939\/revisions\/55941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Biden Says He\u2019s \u2018Working On\u2019 Fulfilling Marijuana Campaign Pledge To Free Prisoners<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"