President Joe Biden is cheering another state-level action to clear marijuana conviction records action following his own presidential pardons, applauding Connecticut for taking action to provide relief to those who\u2019ve been criminalized over cannabis. He similarly voiced approval after Oregon\u2019s governor pardoned tens of thousands of cannabis cases last month.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the president said it was \u201cgreat news for Connecticut families who\u2019ve been impacted by our nation\u2019s failed approach to marijuana\u201d after\u00a0Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that the state will be automatically clearing records of low-level marijuana records<\/a> for thousands of people at the beginning of the new year.<\/p>\n This is great news for Connecticut families who’ve been impacted by our nation’s failed approach to marijuana.<\/p>\n No one should be imprisoned solely due to the possession of marijuana. https:\/\/t.co\/grdlDm0cHR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 President Biden (@POTUS) December 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cNo one should be imprisoned solely due to the possession of marijuana,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n Other White House officials, including the nation\u2019s drug czar and a communications official with the Biden administration, also touted the marijuana clemency development in Connecticut on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cGlad to see @GovNedLamont take this action in Connecticut,\u201d Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Rahul Gupta said on Wednesday. \u201c@POTUS has pardoned all Federal offenses for low-level marijuana possession and called for Governors to take similar actions.\u201d<\/p>\n Glad to see @GovNedLamont<\/a> take this action in Connecticut. @POTUS<\/a> has pardoned all Federal offenses for low-level marijuana possession and called for Governors to take similar actions. https:\/\/t.co\/jD5BjzNcTP<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rahul Gupta (@DrGupta46) December 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n A spokesperson for the White House separately said that Connecticut\u2019s governor was following Biden\u2019s \u201ccall for states to follow his lead on marijuana pardons.\u201d<\/p>\n Following @POTUS<\/a> call for states to follow his lead on marijuana pardons<\/p>\n Thanks @GovNedLamont<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/XNGGtZANYL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kevin Munoz (@KMunoz46) December 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The president separately voiced his support after Oregon\u2019s governor moved to grant tens of thousands of cannabis pardons<\/a> late last month. Biden said\u00a0that other states should \u201cfollow Oregon\u2019s example.\u201d<\/p>\n Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) has since described cannabis clemency as \u201cvery much a racial justice issue.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Governors from states across the U.S.\u00a0have given mixed responses about their plans<\/a>\u00a0for marijuana clemency in light of the president\u2019s call to action, with some pledging to analyze their options and others noting that their authority is limited.<\/p>\n North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D)\u00a0came out in support of marijuana decriminalization<\/a>\u00a0in October, saying it\u2019s time to \u201cend the stigma\u201d and announcing steps he\u2019s taken to explore his options for independently granting relief to people with existing convictions.<\/p>\n Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D), meanwhile,\u00a0signed two marijuana-related executive orders<\/a>\u00a0last month: one to protect patients who meet certain criteria and possess medical cannabis legally obtained from dispensaries in other states, and another to regulate the sale of delta-8 THC products. The medical cannabis move is based on the governor\u2019s clemency powers.<\/p>\n Back in Connecticut, Lamont has long supported legalization and celebrated the policy change that\u2019s being actively implemented. For example, he shared a clip of a country song in June that including lyrics saying that one great thing about Connecticut is that it\u2019s \u201ccool to smoke some pot\u201d<\/a>\u00a0since the governor signed the legalization bill.<\/p>\n Before signing the reform legislation, Lamont was asked if he\u2019d partake himself when marijuana was officially legal\u2014and he didn\u2019t rule it out<\/a>, saying \u201cnot right now, but we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the governor also signed a large-scale budget bill in May that includes provisions to set the state up to provide certain patients with\u00a0access to psychedelic-assisted treatment<\/a>\u00a0using substances like MDMA and psilocybin.<\/p>\n On the federal level, the Biden administration has seemed increasingly willing to lean into the popularity of marijuana reform since the president issued the pardons and directed an administrative review into federal cannabis scheduling.<\/p>\n For example, this week U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra tweeted a link to a Marijuana Moment article<\/a> that discusses the president\u2019s\u00a0recent administrative cannabis scheduling directive<\/a>. He posted it at exactly 4:20pm ET.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to take a look at what science tells us and what the evidence tells us,\u201d Becerra, who has a\u00a0considerable record supporting cannabis reform<\/a>\u00a0as a congressman and as California\u2019s attorney general, said at the recent overdose prevention event. \u201cThat will guide what we do\u2014and we hope that will guide what the federal government does.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the president\u2019s cannabis pardons and scheduling announcement, the secretary said that the department\u00a0would \u201cwork as quickly as we can\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to carry out the scientific review. And\u00a0he\u2019s already discussed the issue<\/a>\u00a0with the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to that end.<\/p>\n Separately, the White House drug czar said recently\u00a0that that the president\u2019s action was \u201chistoric,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0adding that there are \u201cclearly\u201d medical benefits of cannabis.<\/p>\n Like HHS, DOJ has similarly\u00a0committed to quickly carrying out the separate scheduling review<\/a>\u00a0the president directed, which could result in a recommendation to place cannabis in a lower schedule or remove it altogether, effectively legalizing the plant under federal law.<\/p>\n The president also officially\u00a0signed a marijuana research bill into law<\/a>\u00a0last week, making history by enacting the first piece of standalone federal cannabis reform legislation in U.S. history.<\/p>\n A series of polls have shown that Americans\u00a0strongly support the president\u2019s pardon action<\/a>, and they also don\u2019t think that marijuana should be federally classified as a Schedule I drug.<\/p>\n McConnell Brags About Marijuana Banking Defeat In Defense Bill, Signaling He\u2019ll Fight To Stop It In Omnibus Spending Too<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Biden Applauds Another State For Clearing Marijuana Records Following His Presidential Pardons<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden is cheering another state-level action to clear marijuana conviction records action following his own presidential pardons, applauding Connecticut for taking action to provide relief to those who\u2019ve been criminalized over cannabis. He similarly voiced approval after Oregon\u2019s governor pardoned tens of thousands of cannabis cases last month.Continue 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":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59128"}],"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=59128"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59128\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59129,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59128\/revisions\/59129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Biden Applauds Another State For Clearing Marijuana Records Following His Presidential Pardons<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"