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
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.