President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he's pardoning individuals charged with simple marijuana possession on a federal level, but his decision does not affect broad groups of Americans and non-citizens charged with the crime.
There's historical precedent for mass application of the presidential pardon power, but the sheer size of Biden's pardon list stands out among most recent predecessors. The White House estimates "6,500 people with prior federal convictions" and "thousands of such convictions under law could benefit from this relief."
"It's legal in many states, and criminal records for marijuana possession have led to needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities," he continued. "And that's before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences. While White and Black and Brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and Brown people are arrested, prosecuted and convicted at disproportionate rates.
The full scope of individuals who could be pardoned as a result of state clemency for simple marijuana possession is unclear, but available law enforcement data analyzed by the American Civil Liberties Union found that in 2018, for example, there were almost 700,000 marijuana arrests, which accounted for more than 43% of all reported drug arrests. Not all drug arrests, however, lead to charges nor are they all categorized as simple marijuana possession.
But a senior administration official on Thursday noted that as a result of Biden's proclamation, "anyone who has committed that offence could not be prosecuted federally, at this point, based on that conduct."Data from the US Sentencing Commission indicates that some 72% of federal offenders in a case of marijuana possession were, on average, non-citizens between fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2021.
The Department of Justice says that federal marijuana possession offences that occur after October 6, 2022 -- the date of the presidential proclamation -- will not protect individuals from being charged down the road. While Biden's pardons will impact thousands who face simple possession charges, the act of clemency will not apply to all types of federal marijuana offences.
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