Will Joe Biden’s Marijuana reforms have long term impact?
The marijuana reforms President Joe Biden announced today fulfill some of the promises he made during his campaign, but they will have limited practical impact. His blanket pardon for petty marijuana offenders, while long overdue, will affect a small percentage of people with state drug records.
Without new laws, marijuana use will remain a crime under federal law, as will the cultivation and sale of marijuana. And while the postponement of marijuana will facilitate medical research, cannabis will not be legally available to patients unless the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves certain products as safe and effective
“I think we should decriminalize marijuana, period,” Biden said during a presidential debate in November 2019. “And I think everyone who has a record should be released from prison, have their records erased, completely zeroed. Everyone leaves, file erased.
The recovering drug fighter later qualified that broad language, suggesting that his concern was limited to marijuana users accused of mere possession, who are rarely prosecuted under federal law. Today’s announcement fits into that narrower focus.
Will Joe Biden’s Marijuana reforms have long term impact?
Biden said he will forgive “all current US citizens and legal permanent residents who have committed the crime of mere possession of marijuana in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.” He said the general pardon “would help thousands of people previously convicted of mere possession” and “who may be denied jobs, housing or educational opportunities as a result.” While “whites, blacks and browns use marijuana at similar rates,” she noted, “blacks and browns have been arrested, prosecuted and sentenced at disproportionate rates.”
Biden’s concerns about the additional penalties associated with marijuana convictions and the racially disproportionate impact of the cannabis war are welcome.
While Biden said “we have to decriminalize marijuana,” he doesn’t have the authority to do it himself. Despite his pardon, mere possession of marijuana still carries a $ 1,000 fine and up to one year in prison under the Controlled Substances Act. Growing or selling marijuana are still federal crimes, creating an unsustainable conflict with state laws that allow for medical or recreational use. Cannabis users who also own guns still face stiff prison terms – a policy the Biden administration is upholding in court.
“Too many lives have been turned upside down by our failed approach to marijuana,” Biden said today. “It’s time to correct these mistakes.” Given the limited scope of the policies he just announced – which would leave marijuana bans intact, not even allow medical use, and keep marijuana growers and distributors in prison – the reforms are only a modest step in that direction.
