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Biden's State of the Union Highlights Cannabis Justice Progress, But Pardons Leave Many Still Needing Relief

Stephen Post • Mar 08, 2024

Last night, during his State of the Union address, President Biden made history by being the first president to promote cannabis reform in his speech. While he made the case that the state of the union is strong, thousands of people in federal prisons for victimless cannabis sentences feel the state of cannabis justice is not.


President Biden said he would “keep building trust like I have been doing by taking executive action… directing my Cabinet to review the federal classification of marijuana, expunging thousands of convictions for the mere possession, because no one should be jailed for simply using or having it on their record.”


The President was referring to his October 2022 proclamation where he pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, a move that was expanded on to bring relief to an estimated 13,000 Americans. In addition, President Biden encouraged the country’s governors to use their clemency power to issue similar grants and initiated the review process that could result in cannabis being re- or de-scheduled.


Cannabis Scheduling Classification Review

In August 2023, the HHS recommended rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug and referred it to the DEA for final approval. The DEA has not yet made a decision. Rescheduling signals the reevaluation of cannabis but not the release of prisoners or relief for those with a criminal record. Only full descheduling and removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act could help in ending cannabis-related criminal sanctions.


This is why we at Last Prisoner Project are pushing for more effective strategies for retroactive relief. Regardless of your stance on the Biden administration’s move, this is a moment of progress for the drug policy movement. The question is, how much progress can we achieve if we push for the right reforms? In our latest memo, we explained how President Biden and Congress can leverage the rescheduling of cannabis to create broader criminal legal reform.


Federal Pardons ≠ Expungement

Language is important. President Biden has repeatedly conflated the impact of his pardons, saying that they have expunged or cleared records. Unfortunately, these pardons were limited both in scope and impact. First, very few individuals have federal possession convictions for cannabis, as the vast majority of these charges are prosecuted at the state level. Second, the president excluded a potentially substantial category of offenses by failing to extend this relief to anyone not deemed a “lawful permanent resident” or to military personnel.


Along with being limited in scope, presidential pardons do not clear or expunge criminal records. Therefore, while they provide some relief, they do not remove all collateral consequences like limited access to employment, housing, and loans. Additionally, a federal expungement mechanism doesn’t even exist.⁣ The President should urge Congress to pass a federal expungement statute that addresses federal cannabis offenses.


“Because no one should be jailed…”

While the importance of President Biden’s statement and actions should be lauded, they are still just the first step in the long road toward justice. These pardons have offered hope to thousands of individuals but left others behind. The pardons did not result in the release of any of the estimated 3,000 people still incarcerated in federal prison due to other non-violent cannabis-related convictions.


Furthermore, they do nothing for the tens of thousands of Americans incarcerated on state-level charges, where the vast majority of cannabis-related convictions happen. President Biden’s directive merely opened the door for potential federal decriminalization (if we want federally legal weed, Congress will have to get involved).


So where do we go from here?

First off, the President must wield his pardon power more broadly. He should immediately commute the sentences of those serving federal sentences for conduct involving amounts of cannabis that are far less than what state-regulated dispensaries routinely handle on a daily basis. Then, the President must do more than just call on Governors to pardon people with state-level marijuana convictions—he has to make it easy for them. That would include, but not be limited to, allowing states to access federal dollars to spin up “cannabis pardoning projects”, not dissimilar to what state officials have done in Pennsylvania.


Biden alone cannot fully legalize and regulate marijuana, but his broad clemency power does afford him the ability to free thousands of Americans languishing behind bars for the same activity many now profit from with the stroke of a pen. If he truly wants to right history and repair the harms of our nation’s failed drug war, this initial progress must be followed up with bolder action—action that would actually lead to freedom for cannabis prisoners.


Thus, today, Last Prisoner Project is sending a letter to President Biden reminding him of his clemency power and providing a list of more than 150 individuals we are working to free—people like Edwin Rubis, Ricardo Ashemeade, and Ismael Lira who have collectively served over 60 years in prison for cannabis.


Join us in urging further action on April 18 in Washington D.C. for our 420 Unity Day of Action where we will bring together the largest bi-partisan coalition of cannabis advocacy, industry, and grassroots organizers to uplift the voices of all cannabis prisoners and put pressure on President Biden and Congress to free them all and fully legalize cannabis.

Last Prisoner Project Supports the Reintroduction of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA)

By Stephen Post • 02 May, 2024
This week, Senators Booker, Schumer, and Wyden reintroduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), comprehensive legislation that would legalize cannabis federally, expunge cannabis records, and release cannabis prisoners. Here are just a few highlights to help breakdown this bill: CAOA, if passed, could finally decriminalize cannabis on the federal level. Federal courts would have 1 year to expunge or seal arrests, convictions, and juvenile delinquency adjudications for most non-violent federal cannabis offenses. They'd also be required to educate recipients on the effects of their expungement(s). Some federal cannabis tax revenue would be directed to organizations that help people secure state-level cannabis expungements. The Bureau of Prisons would have 60 DAYS TO RELEASE (and vacate the convictions of) individuals serving tiem for most federal cannabis-only offenses. Individuals whose convictions don't fall under those guidelines, or whose sentences were enhanced because of prior cannabis convictions, would be able to petition the court for a reduced sentence. The feds wouldn't be able to deny people federal public assistance because of cannabis use, possession, or convictions. They also would not be able to consider cannabis a controlled substance for the purposes of immigration proceedings. Read more about the CAOA here and read recent coverage in Filter Mag and Marijuana Moment of our 420 Unity Day where we joined with advocates to talk to Sen. Schumer and other lawmakers about the CAOA and other efforts to enact cannabis justice

DEA Moves to Officially Reschedule Cannabis

By Sarah Gersten • 30 Apr, 2024
Rescheduling is not legalization, and the existing penalties for cannabis remain unchanged. In October of 2022, President Biden made a series of historic cannabis-related executive actions , including initiating a review by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Justice on how cannabis is scheduled under federal law. In August 2023, HHS recommended rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug and referred it to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) for final approval. Today, the DEA announced its decision to approve the HHS recommendation to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III. The proposal now goes to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), to review the rule. If approved by OMB, the proposed rescheduling would go to public comment before being finalized. This historic announcement is the culmination of years of advocacy by Last Prisoner Project (LPP) and other advocacy groups to push the federal government to better reflect the public’s view on cannabis. While the move is undoubtedly a step forward for the movement, it does not meet LPP’s goal to fully remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and its associated criminal penalties. So then, what exactly does this schedule change mean for cannabis justice reform? While the action could result in some favorable tax and banking reform for the cannabis industry and more dedicated research for cannabis patients, there are no changes in how the criminal legal system punishes cannabis users. Rescheduling is a peripheral change that signals the reevaluation of cannabis, but not the release of cannabis prisoners or relief for those who continue to be burdened by the lasting consequences of the carceral system. In short, this announcement represents progress but not justice. Despite not achieving full legalization, we must use this historic moment to push the fight for cannabis justice forward by broadening the scope of Biden’s cannabis clemency action, working with Congress and certain administrative agencies to both provide retroactive relief and to reduce prospective cannabis criminal enforcement, and incentivizing states to provide broad retroactive relief, particularly in states that have adopted a fully legal cannabis market. Learn more about ways cannabis justice advocates can leverage this change to advance reforms in our recent memo . LPP is committed to continuing the fight for cannabis justice until everyone is fully free from the harms of the War on Drugs. This means advocating for cannabis to be fully descheduled. To ensure we keep the pressure on descheduling, retroactive relief, and full legalization, Last Prisoner Project helped organize the largest bipartisan group of cannabis advocates in Washington D.C. on April 18th, 2024 for our 420 Unity Day of Action to urge Congress and the President to take further action. Last Prisoner Project believes that complete descheduling is a necessary step towards correcting past injustices and creating a fair and equitable criminal legal system. We will continue to leverage the momentum achieved from our advocacy to ensure that individuals burdened with past cannabis convictions have their records expunged and all cannabis prisoners are released, regardless of the federal scheduling decision.

President Biden Grants Clemency to 16 Non-Violent Drug Offenders, But No Cannabis Offenses Included

By Stephen Post • 27 Apr, 2024
President Joe Biden made a statement Wednesday announcing a decision to pardon 11 people convicted of non-violent drug charges and commuted the sentences of five others. "America is a nation founded on the promise of second chances," he said . "We also recommit to building a criminal justice system that lives up to those ideals and ensures that everyone receives equal justice under law." Despite this positive use of his clemency powers, President Biden again failed to include any people still in prison at the federal level for cannabis offenses which is estimated to be at least 3,000 individuals. Even though he has provided record relief to almost 13,000 people with his expanded cannabis possession pardons, the President has failed to release a single person in prison for cannabis. Last Prisoner Project Executive Director, Sarah Gersten said, "While we are encouraged to see the President use his clemency power to commute the sentences of those incarcerated for drug offenses, we are hopeful that the administration will fulfill their promises both to use the clemency power more robustly as well as to commute the sentences of those still incarcerated for cannabis." "The Administration has made it clear that cannabis reform is a priority and one that will energize their electorate. To truly make an impact that will sway voters come November the president needs to take action to release the estimated 3,000 individuals still incarcerated for cannabis federally." We hope that President Biden recognizes that releasing people with cannabis offenses doesn't require legalization. They demand executive action. If he is looking for the next batch of candidates for clemency, we have already sent him a list of deserving individuals whose petitions are sitting with the Office of the Pardon Attorney. He simply needs to act on them. We recently rallied advocates at the White House on our 420 Unity Day of Action to demand their freedom and encourage the public to help tell Congress and the President to take further action.
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