Lawmakers Press Biden For Further Marijuana Reforms Before End Of Term

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A letter sent to President Biden by a group of 14 Democratic congressional lawmakers calls on him to take further steps on marijuana reform before his term in office comes to an end in January, according to The Hill.

Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Barbara Lee (D-CA)   and Earl Blumenauer  (D-OR) joined in the letter asking Biden to deschedule marijuana and restrict federal marijuana prosecutions.

The letter, sent to the president and Vice President Kamala Harris, commended the steps their administration has taken on decriminalization, including pardons for individuals convicted of simple marijuana possession and progress in removing marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and place it in Schedule III, a category for less dangerous drugs.  The shift was approved by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

But the lawmakers said the administration could further reduce the harms of marijuana’s criminalization by issuing another round of clemency and an updated memorandum on prosecutorial discretion for marijuana offenses.

Despite pardons issued by Biden for simple possession and use of marijuana, the letter notes that at least 3,000 people remain in federal prison for other marijuana-related offenses, and goes on to say, “President Biden should issue broader clemency —including another round of pardons and commutations to reduce sentences or end terms of incarceration — for individuals convicted of other cannabis-related offenses. Additionally, the President should again urge state governors to expand marijuana clemency and decriminalize low-level marijuana conduct under state law.”

In addition, the lawmakers are calling on the president to issue a memorandum to deprioritize seizing marijuana and prosecuting individuals and businesses for state-legal marijuana activity, saying that marijuana criminalization has continued to be enforced in a racially disparate manner.

The letter says that the memorandum “should direct federal law enforcement to deprioritize prosecutions of any future marijuana offenses that have been the basis of prior federal pardons, and deprioritize prosecutions of personal cannabis activities and cannabis activities that comply with state or Tribal law.”

Other signatories on the letter include Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), as well as Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Dina Titus (D-NV), Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

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