On Oct. 6, 2022, President Biden issued a proclamation pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, signaling a major shift in the federal approach to cannabis. He also urged governors to do the same under state law, and urged the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to initiate a process to "review expeditiously how marijuana is scheduled under federal law."
While most marijuana-related arrests are for violations of state and local laws, White House officials reportedly estimate that the president’s federal pardon efforts will bring relief to about 6,500 people.
“There are thousands of people who have prior federal convictions for marijuana possession, who may be denied employment, housing, educational opportunities as a result,” the president said. “My action will help relieve the collateral consequences arising from these convictions.”
In March, the pardon application finally went live. Eligible applicants will receive an official certificate confirming the pardon; documents are being issued through the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s website.
While this is welcome news, the Department of Justice expects it could take applicants up to two and a half hours to find and submit the appropriate documentation, creating an unnecessary procedural barrier. Instead, Attorney General Merrick Garland should automate this system, to ensure all eligible people receive access and relief.
Sign if you agree: Marijuana pardon applications must be automated.
Biden's proclamation specifically grants “a full, complete, and unconditional pardon” to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents charged with or convicted of simple possession of marijuana in violation of either the federal Controlled Substances Act or D.C. Code 48–904.01(d)(1). It does not pardon any other marijuana related charges, like distribution, nor does it expunge your record. Background checks, like the kind needed to teach, will still show a federal possession charge.
"In the past, having a federal criminal record for marijuana possession has limited my employment opportunities, caused me problems at the US border, and has even restricted my travel," writes Chris Goldstein, a regional organizer with NORML. "Possessing a Presidential Pardon Certificate will go a long way toward easing these situations."
People who have been charged with marijuana possession have already paid a significant personal cost, affecting their public housing and financial student aid eligibility, employment opportunities, child custody determinations, immigration status, and more.
Goldstein goes on to applaud the president's progress on the issue, noting that as a senator in the 1990s, Biden "helped create some of the harshest laws entrapping cannabis consumers in a system of police, courts, jails, probation and permanent records." He also notes that while previous presidents have helped developed current cannabis policies, Biden has made the most significant step so far. "From Nixon’s Controlled Substances Act in 1970 to the Cole Memo from the Obama Administration in 2013, there are few matters where the President wields such influence."
As we’ve seen through other federal programs, such as applying for student aid via FAFSA, long-form application processes are a deterrence to those who need help the most: low-income individuals, disabled people, Black communities, and other communities of color. These are the same people who will face barriers to collecting the information required to submit the form. And like tax filing, it's information the government already has and could use to reduce the burden of bureaucracy.
Meanwhile, states and localities that have legalized marijuana across the country have already begun automatically expunging records. Those individuals harmed by prohibition should not be required to face a higher burden of applications and research in order to receive the pardons promised by President Biden.
The U.S. has wasted billions of dollars and sacrificed countless futures to this failing, racist, and absurd decades-long fight against cannabis. Biden's laudable efforts to chart a new course on cannabis policy cannot be undermined by bureaucracy. Attorney General Merrick Garland must remove all barriers, beginning with simplifying the process.
Republished with permission from Daily Kos.
