I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., do hereby grant a full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all current United States citizens and lawful permanent residents who, on or before the date of this proclamation, committed or were convicted of the offense of simple possession of marijuana, attempted simple possession of marijuana, or use of marijuana, regardless of whether they have been charged with or prosecuted for these offenses on or before the date of this proclamation
Good. Now legalize it and stop prosecuting people for having a plant.
That’s Congress’ job.
Actually it’s not. Congress long ago passed the Controlled Substances Act which places the authority for scheduling what drugs are considered illegal in the hands of the Dept. of HHS, the DEA, and Attorney General.
Currently, marijuana is considered a Schedule I drug along with heroin and LSD. Last year, though, Biden directed the Dept. of HHS to consider whether or not that is an appropriate classification. In August of this year, HHS informed the DEA that marijuana should be reclassified as a Schedule III drug. The DEA will now consider the recommendation and if they approve the HHS recommendation, as they have nearly if not always done, then they would send the recommendation to the AG who will make a final ruling.
Law enforcement is the purview of the executive branch and frankly there is not enough money for the executive branch to enforce all the laws that Congress passes. The executive branch must therefore decide what laws have priority. With a stroke of his pen, Biden could issue an executive order instructing the DoJ to stop enforcing drug laws relating to non-violent marijuana possession.
Schedule III is a good move but also ridiculous. There’s no way MJ is just as addictive as codeine. But hey, at least this opens to door for national medical MJ which is a good step forward.
Thanks for the correction and education. I responded out of frustration with complaints that are often levied at Biden that have nothing to do with his job.
You didn’t immediately accept the bullshit excuse! You don’t know how anything works!
Normally I’d agree but I think in this case descheduling has a different route. I think the president and the DEA can just move it down the made-up list of scientifically inaccurate fear-mongering.
That’s different from legalizing.
It’s only illegal because it’s scheduled. Unscheduled drugs can be sold OTC.
Well, yeah, but the office of the president does not controlled directly which drug is scheduled, - it is controlled by fda. Nor does it control the existence of the schedule itself - it is controlled by congress. In short, the president is not a king, as Tramp has learned to his surprise.
The FDA has nothing to do with drug scheduling. That’s the HHS, DEA, and AG. Congress could just take marijuana off the list if they wanted, but that’s not likely to happen any time soon.
OK, one of those three letter agencies, regardless my point stands - the president can’t do it.
I seem to recall a few years back that a governor was not allowed to issue “blanket” pardons, but had to specifically name the individual and charges being pardoned. I believe he spent days or weeks doing nothing but signing pardons.
That’s a State thing and depends on the state, Presidential pardons can be blanket
Not 100% sure what you’re arguing, but Presidents can and have issued blanket pardons in the past. Notably, Carter issued a blanket pardon during his term for anyone who dodged the draft in the Vietnam era. I’m sure there are other examples.
Importantly, presidential pardons only work for federal crimes. State crimes cannot be pardoned by the president, they have to be pardoned by a governor.
…. attempted simple possession hmm
Right!?? What the fuck.
I mean, busting people for trying to purchase drugs is absolutely a thing. It’s a stupid thing, but still a thing.
no getting around that purchasing/sale ban by giving it away for free
Doesn’t this cover hunter’s alleged use? So his gun charge should be gine since he has been pardoned for use.
Copied from the HuffPost article I found first:
Hunter Biden was indicted in September for illegally owning a gun in 2018 after he lied on a federal form that asks gun buyers whether they’re on drugs. He admitted in a 2021 memoir that he was habitually using crack cocaine at the time.
It’s a pretty lose connection of him actually being on a crack at that exact time based on whatever he wrote in general. And it’s a crack, not mj. And I don’t feel like anyone got charged for that at any point in history, and that matters with a precedent-based court.
It’s funny how long it drags. Laptop, then that. Them going for the president’s son to (how?) smear the image of Biden senior is pathetic, just like counting times he tripped over something. Why’s that happening? Because Biden is quite literally the most neutral figure who causes a little to no controversy, so his opponents use these indirect nothing-burgers.
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There was another pardon issued last year that was less expansive. This one will likely cover a lot more people.
Imagine not reading anything and thinking you know everything. Lmao. Yikes.
This is dated today and references the previous one. I have no idea if its impact will be any wider, but your comment is inaccurate.
“DECEMBER 22, 2023”
If you just clicked on the link, you would see that this is a new proclamation made today and he even mentions the one from last year at the beginning of the page.
